|
 The Honeybears finished their spectacular season with a 25-2
record.
Coach Jamie Anderson was proud of his team and their second place
finish. "It was an incredible game. I thought we really gave them a
run for their money," he said afterwards. "We didn't get rattled
even when we were down in the first quarter. At one point we were
only down six in the second half and I thought if we could just get
a couple more stops defensively. We really had our opportunities and
unfortunately Danville Schlarman came out firing," he continued.
Noting that this is Danville Schlarman's fourth time winning a
basketball state championship, Coach Anderson added, "They have a
great program. They came out and knew how they wanted to defend us
and we still took it to them. We didn't hold anything back for our
last game and I am very proud of our team."
The Honeybears got on the scoreboard first with Skylar Hayes driving
the basket and laying the ball in for two points. The Hilltoppers
quickly answered back with 10 consecutive points by the scoring
combination of Capria Brown and Araya Peoples. Hayes handled all of
the scoring for the Honeybears in the first quarter and at the end
of one it was Danville Schlarman on top 17-6.
 Abigail Fitzpatrick opened the scoring in the second quarter for the
Honeybears by going coast to coast for a layup but the Hilltoppers'
Brown nailed a jumper to keep the lead at 19-8. Hayes was able to
score on a nice pass from Ainsley Chandler to narrow the lead to
19-10. The Honeybears got a little momentum going in the second
quarter with Hayes scoring two points off a rebound and eventually
getting a chance to sink a couple free throws to pull the Honeybears
closer at 22-14. But Danville Schlarman's Brown swished a three
pointer to hush the Mount Pulaski crowd and give the Hilltoppers a
25-14 edge. Brown would steal the ball with 1:45 seconds left in the
second quarter and she was good for the layup, extending the lead
27-14. Fitzpatrick's two points at the buzzer fired up the
Honeybears at the half, as they went to the locker room trailing
28-16. The Honeybears knew going into this game they would have
their work cut out for them and no doubt being down at the half by
double digits was not where they wanted to be, but hard work all
season is what got the team this far and the Honeybears were
certainly not about to give up now.
Mount Pulaski came out of the locker room more focused than ever and
proceeded to make a run in the third quarter. Fitzpatrick quickly
spotted Hayes open and one beautiful pass later and the Honeybears
were picking right back up where they had left off at the half,
scoring. Chandler hit a nice jumper for two that brought the crowd
to its feet and put the Honeybears right back in the game, trailing
only 28-20. Unfortunately for the Mount Pulaski fans, the scoring
combination of Brown and Peoples was also hungry for action and they
went on a run to make the lead 33-20. Hayes went on her own run near
the end of the third scoring six points but not enough to match the
Hilltoppers, who continued to lead 40-26 at the end of three
quarters of play.
[to top of second column] |
Chandler opened the fourth quarter for the Honeybears by connecting
from downtown with a three to make it 40-29. Hayes' two points
around the 5:00 minute mark made the score 40-31. Meanwhile Callie
Anderson's three point basket brought the crowd to its feet at the
3:05 mark as the Honeybears were clawing their way back into the
game, 43-34. A technical foul called on Danville Schlarman allowed
Hayes to sink two free throws and edge Mount Pulaski closer 43-36
with 2:15 remaining in the game. Hayes' layup seconds later would
cause the mostly Mount Pulaski crowd to erupt as the Honeybears had
pulled to within five points, 43-38 with just less than 2:00 to
play. In the final minutes of the game though it was Hilltoppers all
the way. They scored a layup with 1:53 on the clock to go up 45-38.
A missed layup by Fitzpatrick allowed the Hilltoppers to get the
ball back. Seconds later an intentional foul on Mount Pulaski would
send Danville Schlarman to the line and they would score their
remaining points on free throws.
In the final seconds the Hilltoppers just wasted time on the clock
by dribbling and eventually ended up celebrating another state
championship. However, based on the crowd reaction by the Honeybear
fans you really could not tell that their team had just lost 48-38.
The gym was filled to capacity by family, friends and screamin'
students who were all equally proud of the Honeybears' outstanding
accomplishment.
Following the medal presentation, the stands emptied as everyone
made their way to the gym floor to find their favorite Honeybear and
exchange hugs and take photo after photo after photo. Making
memories is what these moments are all about .
The Honeybears continued to make memories with a police escort from
Clinton to Mount Pulaski, with the Chestnut emergency crew joining
in along the way on Route 54. Once the entourage hit the square in
Mount Pulaski, all you could see was the flashing lights of the
firetrucks and other emergency vehicles who were leading the way as
the bus full of Honeybears lapped the square....a long-standing
tradition in Mount Pulaski when a sports team goes to state. The
final stop of the evening was the Pizza Man, where everyone gathered
to celebrate, smiling and laughing, into the late school-night
hours.
Congratulations to Coach Anderson and Coach Hayes and all the
Honeybear players and their families for their hard work and
dedication throughout the season. This basketball team really
brought the community together. Thanks, ladies!
Mount Pulaski scoring
Hayes 26
Chandler 5
Fitzpatrick 4
Anderson 3
Danville Schlarman scoring
Peoples 25
Brown 16
Domilano 4
Scott 3
[Teena Lowery] |
