EDWARDSVILLE – Kiyoko Proctor has been leading the Alton Middle School seventh grade girls’ basketball team most of the season.
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Wednesday night at Liberty Middle School in Edwardsville, Proctor lead the Jr. Redbirds to the state tournament.
Proctor hit four clutch free throws, including the winner with 10.5 seconds left in regulation, to help give Alton Middle a 49-45 win over Cahokia Wirth in the sectional game of the Illinois Elementary School Association’s seventh grade Class 4A playoffs. The Jr. Redbirds advanced to the state quarterfinals on Saturday morning, where they’ll play Gwendolyn Brooks Junior High of Harvey, a 29-21 winner over Lockport Oak Prairie in their sectional game.
Alton Middle head coach Jeff Harris was very proud of his Proctor for the way she handled the pressure of the situation.
“The final seconds, she was very composed,” Harris said in an interview following the game. “For how young she is, I was very proud of the way she handled the pressure of the situation, the pressure of the defense, the score being so close, and the amount of time left. She had an awareness that you don’t see too often in a child that young. I was very proud of her.”
It was a see-saw game that saw Alton come from behind many times before finally putting away the Warriors. Harris thought that the ability to come back from the deficits is a testament to his team.
“I was very proud of the girls for the way they stuck it out,” Harris said, “because we did get down, and they didn’t give up. They kept fighting, and that shows a lot to their character.”
The Jr. Redbirds started the game on a 9-2 run, scoring nine straight after conceding the first two points on free throws. Amyracle Hardimon, Proctor and a pair of baskets from Jarius Powers gave Alton their early advantage, which they extended to 13-4 before the Warriors came back. A three-ball from Kennah Sanders and a pair of baskets from Markayla McDaniel cut the Jr. Redbird lead to 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.
A free throw by Amani Leonard gave Alton a 14-11 lead to start the second period, but a free throw from Keymora Hayes and a basket underneath by McDaniel tied the game at 14-14. McDaniel’s three-point play retied the game at 17-17, and the Warriors took the lead for the first time on a runner by Caitlyn Sheard to make it 19-17. Hardimon made a nice move to the hoop to retie the game, but the Warriors went on a 6-0 run to take a 25-19 advantage. A pair of Proctor free throws and a basket from Leonard cut the deficit to two, and a free throw from Kayda Austin gave Wirth a 26-23 lead at halftime.
The Warriors started the third quarter on a 6-4 run with a pair of free throws and a basket by Arielle Lawrence before a three-point play by Proctor cut the lead to 32-30. The teams then traded baskets before Sanders banked in a long two at the top of the key to give Wirth a 36-32 lead. A Proctor basket before the buzzer made it 36-34 for the Warriors after three, setting up a dramatic final term.
A Hayes free throw at the start of the period gave Wirth a 37-34 lead, but Proctor tied the game on a three-point play, then a floater by Leonard gave the Jr. Redbirds the lead back at 39-37. The lead then see-sawed back and forth, with neither team gaining more than a two-point cushion before a Powers free throw made it 45-42. A Lawrence free throw with 27.7 seconds left and a basket with less than 20 seconds left tied the game at 45-45, and a Proctor free throw with 10.5 seconds left gave the Jr. Redbirds the lead at 46-45. After the Warriors lost the ball on a traveling call with 7.9 seconds left, the ball came in to Proctor, who was intentionally fouled with four seconds left. Proctor cooly stepped to the line and hit both free throws to extend the lead to 48-45, and her free throw with 0.9 seconds left iced the game for Alton at 49-45.
Proctor was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, while Hardimon added 13 for the Jr. Redbirds. Lawrence led the way for the Warriors with 20 points.
The Jr. Redbirds will play against Harvey Brooks in the state quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. at Brooks Middle School in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook Saturday morning. But for Harris and his team, it’s first things first.
“I just want to make sure everyone’s healthy,’ Harris said. “Want to make sure everyone takes care of their schoolwork before we get up there, first and foremost. Behavior and grades are key; no sports without grades. So take care of school first, get up to the game and just keep competing like we’ve been doing. Very proud of my girls; they showed a lot of resiliency, and hope we can continue that throughout the rest of the tournament.”
Should the Jr. Redbirds win, they’ll play the winner of East Peoria Central and Frankfort Hickory Creek in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. Saturday evening. The final is set for Dec. 6 at Brooks Middle. Harris recognized the unpredictability of the tournament.
“Hey, it’s almost like March Madness,” Harris said with a smile. “Anything can happen any given night, so we’ve just got to keep chipping away, keep working in practice, keep preparing, and we’ll just see what the scoreboard says at the end of each game.”
But there’s no doubt that Harris is very proud of his team, which now stands at 20-0 on the year.
“Very proud coach right here,” Harris said. “Very proud coach.”
And Harris also gave a shoutout to the team’s supporters and fans.
“Hey, if you can, support those Redbirds!,” Harris said with a smile.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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