NORMAL – All season long, Hardin-Calhoun had been aiming for a return to the IHSA Class 1A girls basketball final.
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The Warriors got their wish – and awaiting them are the Raiders of Moweaqua Central A&M, the team that derailed their state championship hopes last year.
The Warriors stormed out to a 17-5 lead at quarter time, saw the lead reduced to as little as four points in the second term but pulled away in the second half to defeat South Holland Seton Academy – a school that's closing at the end of the school year – 58-42 to reach their second straight Class 1A final, which is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Redbird Arena/Doug Collins Court on the Illinois State campus.
And Calhoun did it in style, getting double-doubles from both Grace and Emma Baalman to get to 31-2 on the season; both Baalmans had 18 points to lead the Warriors, with Emma Baalman pulling down 17 rebounds and Grace Baalman 16. Kassidy Klocke contributed 10 points to the win.
The Sting were eliminated with a 25-7 mark, but will meet up with Shabbona Indian Creek, who fell to A&M 34-31, for third place at 12:15 p.m. Saturday as the curtain-raiser for the A&M-Calhoun title tilt. Ren'cia Rolling led Seton with 13 points with Danielle Bailey adding 11 points.
The Warriors scored the first nine points of the game before Seton's Kyra Ford scored her team's opening points; Calhoun got the lead to 17-5 at quarter time before the Sting went on a run that got them to 24-20 down with 2:01 left in the second term before both Baalmans put the lead back to 30-20 at the long break.
The Warriors used points from both Baalmans and Klocke to build the lead back up in the third term, getting it to 38-29 at three-quarter time before building on it in the final term, getting it to as much as 55-33 with just over three minutes left, the Sting never mounting a serious challenge the rest of the way.
Saturday's game will be live-streamed on-line via www.ihsa.tv via the National Federation web site and will also be live-streamed on the CSN Chicago web site at www.csnchicago.com; both streams are free, but viewers on the National Federation site must register for an account to view the game.
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