NORMAL – Hardin-Calhoun's girls basketball team has taken third place at the 2017 IHSA Class 1A Girls Basketball Championship.
And Grace Baalman closed out her high school career in style, putting up 40 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to help the Warriors defeat Elgin Harvest Christian Academy 72-51 in the third-place playoff game at Redbird Arena in Normal Saturday morning, capping off a three-year state tournament run that saw them finish second in 2015, first in 2016 and third this year.
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The Warriors finished the year at 28-6; the Lions ended the season with a 29-5 mark.
Junie Zirkelbach added 18 points for the Warriors, with Emily Baalman scoring seven, Jordan Holland three and Sophie Lorton and Ashleigh Presley two each. The Lions were led by 26 points from Alyssa Iverson, eight points from both Isamar Garcia and Jenn Kasper and seven from Gacie Ozburn.
Harvest got out to a 10-3 lead just past the halfway mark of the opening quarter before Calhoun got on a run that put them ahead 16-14 at quarter time before building a lead on the Lions in the second term, Grace Baalman scoring the first six points of the quarter for Calhoun and Zirkelbach taking over from there, helping Calhoun grab a 33-25 lead at the half.
Calhoun pulled away in the second half, getting the lead to 51-40 at three-quarter time and putting it away with a 21-11 final quarter.
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