EDWARDSVILLE – Kiyoko Proctor has been one of the key players for the unbeaten Alton Middle School seventh-grade girls’ basketball team this season, and on Wednesday evening, she showed why.
Proctor hit four big free throws in the final ten seconds to give the Jr. Redbirds a 49-45 win over Cahokia Wirth in the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 4A sectional game at Liberty Middle School in Edwardsville. The win takes the team’s record to 20-0 and into the state quarterfinals Saturday morning at Brooks Middle School in Bolingbrook, a Chicago suburb.
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It was part of a 22-point performance by Proctor, and she had a simple mindset coming into the game.
“Just win and take over,” Proctor said in a postgame interview.
The game itself was very hard-fought throughout, but Proctor remained cool when she stepped to the free throw line to hit her shots.
“Well, it was a lot of pressure, like the crowd and stuff,” Proctor said, “and I was kind of nervous, and I was finishing.”
The free throws went through, and of course, Proctor is very happy with the outcome. Gwendolyn Brooks Junior High of Harvey awaits the Jr. Redbirds next and Proctor is looking to both win and her team to play well.
“That we win, and we play like sisters, like family,” Proctor said about the next game.
Proctor is expecting the intensity level at state to be the same as it was in Wednesday night’s game and has a simple goal in mind.
“I want to just take over the game if we’re down or something,” Proctor said, “and keep my team with all the points and stuff.”
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