Lady Toppers take down Brown County
47-40 in overtime; Prepare to play for state championship
[March 06, 2026]
There is no “I” in “TEAM” and that was on full display
Thursday morning at CEFCU Arena as the Mount Pulaski Lady Toppers
defeated the Brown County Lady Hornets 47-40 in overtime at the 2026
IHSA Class 1A State Girls Basketball Tournament.
A lot of heart and hustle went into this win and despite being
outsized, Mount Pulaski played bigger and quicker.
Brown County featured a starting lineup of five juniors. Three of
those girls are 6’0 and one girl is 5’10. The shortest starter is
5’4.
Mount Pulaski’s tallest player is 5’10 Olivia Smith. The rest of the
starting lineup is between 5’5 and 5’7. Mount Pulaski relies on the
senior leadership of two players, Alyson Murphy and Elayna Marten.
Starters Addison Brown and Audrey Cooper are juniors while Smith
comes into the starting five as a sophomore. The only other player
seeing time on the court Thursday morning was 5’7 freshman Ella
Martin.
Mount Pulaski got key contributions from each of these players on
the floor Thursday morning. Actually some of their buckets will be
highlight reels for future generations to enjoy.
For example, Alyson Murphy’s game-tying three that sent the two
teams into overtime. There was also Addison Brown’s buzzer-beating
three to end the first quarter. And how about Audrey Cooper’s three
to start the scoring in the overtime?! No one will forget Elayna
Marten banking in a three to give Mount Pulaski a lead in the second
quarter. Each and every three was huge. On the defensive side, it
was Olivia Smith holding down the big girls in the paint and even
pulling down nine rebounds. Smith earned a few more new bruises in
this game but by the time the medal is hanging around her neck on
Saturday morning, she will undoubtedly say it was all worth it. Ella
Martin played less than three minutes, most of which was in the
overtime, and she had one rebound and two free throws that were each
game changers. Just like pieces of a puzzle, it all has to fit
together.
All of the above are reasons why Mount Pulaski has a date with Deer
Creek-Mackinaw for the state championship on Saturday, March 7, 2026
at 10:00 a.m.
"Bring the Energy" has also been Mount Pulaski’s slogan this season
and with the trip to CEFCU Arena the girls also brought the boombox.
First quarter
The Lady Hornets won the tip but the first nearly minute and a half
of action was filled with missed shots, turnovers and travels. At
the 6:36 mark Kenzie Kassing scored the first basket of the game in
the paint for Brown County. The score remained 2-0 until Alyson
Murphy scored on the putback for Mount Pulaski at the 4:48 mark. All
that time in between baskets was just missed shots and turnovers
again on both sides. The Lady Hornets finally broke through with a
5-2 lead by the 4:20 mark. Following a timeout, Murphy added a point
at the free throw line and then with 2:48 on the clock Elayna Marten
swished a three from the wing, giving Mount Pulaski their first lead
of the game. Addison Brown added to the lead with her first three of
the game at the 2:05 mark. Brown was set up right in front of the
Brown County bench and it was nothing but net to give Mount Pulaski
a 9-5 lead.
With 1:10 left in the quarter Hope Ingram drained a three for Brown
County but Mount Pulaski would get a huge boost heading into the
break when Brown hit a three that was way beyond the arc and it was
a true buzzer beater. Downtown Boodah Brown is back and the Lady
Toppers were able to close out the first quarter with a 12-8 lead.
Second quarter.
Lizzie Blakeley made the first basket ten seconds into the second
quarter and after Ingram sank a shot twenty seconds later, the score
was tied 12-12. Murphy took matters into her own hands at the 5:47
mark. After driving towards the lane, Murphy used a little ball fake
before banking in a bucket for the lead. Brown County took the lead
back after a free throw and a bucket by Henry.
Marten banked in a three at the 4:02 mark and the Lady Toppers were
back on top 17-15. Marten extended the lead to 19-15 after she
rebounded Murphy’s miss on the fast break. Lena Anderson’s bank shot
in the paint closed the gap to 19-17.
Mount Pulaski was able to take a 22-17 lead at the half after Murphy
was able to snag the rebound off a miss by Brown and toss it back up
for two points. Murphy was fouled on the bucket and she turned it
into a three-point play. Brown County missed a three at the buzzer
and Mount Pulaski had the biggest lead of the game going into the
locker room.
Third quarter
Brown County brought the energy early in the third quarter and they
used a 6-0 run to take the lead. After two buckets by Anderson and a
bucket by Henry, the Lady Hornets were up 23-22. Mount Pulaski was
able to jump in front on a layup by Audrey Cooper with 4:27 on the
clock. One more time it would be Brown County on top by a point.
Marten tied the game 25-25 on a trip to the free throw line.
In the last two and a half minutes of the quarter the Lady Toppers
outscored Brown County 8-1. Marten made another free throw that put
Mount Pulaski in front and she followed that up with a layup in
another possession. After Murphy was fouled at the 1:25 mark she
sank both free throws. Jamie Loehr scored Brown County’s only point
at the free throw line at the 1:01 mark. It was Alyson Murphy with a
huge three with 35.1 seconds left to give Mount Pulaski a 33-26 lead
when the quarter ended.
Fourth quarter
Brown County hit two baskets to start the fourth quarter scoring and
just like that it was close again, 33-30 the Mount Pulaski lead. The
second basket in the quarter came at the 6:26 mark and it was a
career milestone for Brown County’s 6’0 junior Kenzie Kassing. She
hit her 2,000th career point with a short jumper to bring her team
to within three points. Kassing had been spending time on the bench
because of foul trouble.
With Kassing back in the game the Lady Toppers really had to get
back on track. Murphy is just the leader to do that. She stole the
ball from Ingram at half court and was fouled pretty hard going for
the layup but she jumped right up and headed to the free throw line
where she swished both shots. Brown County was quick to retaliate
with a bucket in the paint by Henry and again it was just a
three-point lead.
Kassing made it a one-point ballgame at the 2:52 mark and there was
not a single fan in CEFCU Arena who could admit to relaxing for a
second during this game.
Following a timeout with1:17 left the Lady Toppers had the ball and
the 35-34 lead. But on the inbounds Mount Pulaski lost the ball as
Brown and Ingram battled for it. The Lady Hornets ended up with it
and with 1:03 left it was Henry who scored in the paint and got
fouled. After she made the free throw Brown County was back on top
37-35. The Brown County fans were ecstatic.
Hang on for this next minute. There will be a missed shot by Mount
Pulaski, a double-dribble call on Brown County, a turnover, two
players diving after the ball by the media table and another
timeout. That action only covered twenty seconds. There’s more.
Murphy intentionally fouls Ingram to send her to the line with 40.0
seconds left and Ingram missed both free throws. Actually she
clanked both free throws off the iron.
Another timeout followed with 33.1 seconds left. When play resumed
Audrey Cooper tossed up a three from the baseline and it was an air
ball. Henry pulled down the rebound for Brown County and she was
quickly fouled by Olivia Smith. With 22.4 seconds left Henry made
the first free throw but missed the second one. Still it gave Brown
County a 38-35 lead as Marten stepped in to grab the rebound at the
free throw line. Marten dribbled the ball up the court and passed it
to Murphy in the corner. Murphy took a couple dribbles out of the
corner and decided to launch it. That ball went sailing through the
net with 13.9 seconds left and CEFCU Arena exploded. That was the
three that saved Mount Pulaski’s season. The game was now tied
38-38.
[to top of second column] |
Alyson Murphy drives to the basket in the first half in the Toppers
game versus Brown County. Photo courtesy of Rob Siebert
This game was now down to 9.9 seconds and Brown County had a chance
to win it. Instead Cooper stole the pass that Henry intended for
Loehr as the Lady Hornets were moving towards making a game-winning
basket. Cooper’s steal came with less than a second left and the
Lady Hornets were not going to get a good shot off anyway thanks to
Mount Pulaski’s defense. Cooper dribbled just past half court as the
buzzer sounded and the two teams were headed for overtime.
Overtime
The Lady Hornets tipped the ball out of bounds to start the
four-minute overtime. Mount Pulaski took advantage of that gift.
After moving the ball around a bit, it was Cooper who got her feet
set by the Mount Pulaski bench and she decided to go for a three. It
was nothing but net and the Mount Pulaski fans erupted in applause.
Cooper herself was pretty pumped up as she ran towards half court.
Following a miss by Brown County the Lady Toppers came back to score
again. This time it was a pass by Smith to Brown after Smith was
tackled to the ground by Kassing. Smith was able to get a bounce
pass over to Brown and Brown was able to convert with a kiss off the
glass. Mount Pulaski fans were going crazy with a 43-38 lead with
2:45 left to play. At the other end Brown County battled inside to
score when Smith was called for her fifth foul. Henry went to the
line and made one free throw.
Freshman Ella Martin then came into the game for Mount Pulaski.
Martin had seen a few seconds of action in the second quarter and
she was now thrust onto the court in the most important two and a
half minutes of the season.
Mount Pulaski played keep away for almost a minute.
When Brown County did foul it was Ella Martin who they chose to
foul. Martin did miss both free throw shots with 1:16 left but still
Mount Pulaski held tightly to a 43-39 lead.
Brown County was taking their time in their next possession when the
hands of Brown tipped the ball towards Murphy and she was off and
running. While going for a layup Murphy was blocked by Ingram but
the ball still belonged to Mount Pulaski. Martin took the ball out
of bounds for the Lady Toppers and with her brother, Luke, yelling
from the stands, “Be smart, Ella, be smart,” Martin hit the back of
the backboard as she was attempting to toss the ball inbounds. This
move brought Mount Pulaski’s turnover total to 22 in the game.
Brown County had another chance to score and it was Kassing taking
the ball to the basket. She was fouled and made one shot that would
end up being the last point scored for the Lady Hornets. With 38.9
seconds left the Mount Pulaski lead was 43-40. On Kassing’s second
shot that she missed, Ella Martin pulled down the rebound and was
quickly fouled. The freshman had to go to the line again. This time
she made both shots, giving Mount Pulaski a 45-40 lead and a bit of
breathing room. Those two baskets were huge and completely made up
for the ball hitting the back of the backboard play.
Mount Pulaski was cruising to victory lane after Elayna Marten sank
two free throws with 21.3 seconds left. Time ran out for the Lady
Hornets and Mount Pulaski was all smiles with a 47-40 win.
Alyson Murphy led Mount Pulaski with 18 points. She also had eight
rebounds.
Elayna Marten had 14 points. She also had nine rebounds and three
assists.
Maggi Henry led Brown County with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
After the game Coach Ryan McVickers just wanted to hug everyone.
After a few hugs and high fives, Coach McVickers started the press
conference by reiterating that this state tournament run has been
the goal all season. It even went back to the regional championship
loss they suffered last season by two points to Roanoke-Benson.
“We don’t want to feel that feeling anymore,” said McVickers. “These
girls sitting next to me are absolutely unbelievable. They are big
time players. They make big time plays and that was just the story
of this game.”
McVickers mentioned the size of the opponent and said, “But these
girls here, they battle. They could go into war and they’d get the
job done. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls sitting next to me.”
The final stats were discussed postgame and when McVickers heard
that his team out rebounded Brown County 42-36, he was thrilled. He
actually broke out in a smile, clapped and hollered, “Yea!” as
Murphy threw her arms in the air and Smith, Brown and Cooper fist
bumped each other.
A final mention was the crowd size of Mount Pulaski. MPHS has the
smallest enrollment of the final four with 174 students but based on
the crowd Thursday morning, Mount Pulaski had one of the largest in
attendance.
“That’s one thing I’ve been saying all year,” said McVickers. “It
doesn’t matter where we go or where we play, we have the biggest
crowd in the gym every single night. Mount Pulaski is so awesome.
They’re always going to travel. They’re always going to follow us.
And unlike most years, they didn’t just jump on. They have been
following us from day one.”
Ryan McVickers has had own followers from day one, in fact. His mom
and dad, who were in attendance on Thursday morning, flew home to
support him and the team. They reside in Florida now. All season
long Ryan’s dad, Hall of Fame basketball coach Carey McVickers, has
said he would fly home if the team went to the state tournament. So
on Monday night at 8:33 p.m. Carey bought the plane tickets to
Illinois after Mount Pulaski took down Edwards County 48-38. Carey
considered flying home to surprise Ryan for the Super-Sectional game
but being superstitious like his son, he figured if the team lost it
would be his fault.
Turns out, the team is 1-0 with Ryan’s dad in attendance.
The younger McVickers admitted to refocusing the team’s goal now.
First, the notion of just getting to the state tournament was the
main goal.
“Our goal now is to win a state championship,” said McVickers.
It’s been 50 years since MPHS has had a basketball state
championship. In 1976 it was the boys basketball team that had an
unbelievable season, winning it all while playing the underdog role.
This looks to be a good time for girls to do the same.
Mount Pulaski 47
Murphy 18
Marten 14
Brown 8
Cooper 5
Martin 2
Brown County 40
Henry 11
Kassing 9
Ingram 8
Anderson 7
Loehr 3
Blakeley 2
[Teena Lowery] |
