CARROLLTON – It wasn’t the perfect ending to the season that the Carrollton High School girls basketball team had hoped for.

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The Lady Hawks spent the past weekend on the campus of Illinois State University, specifically CEFCU Arena as they took part in the IHSA Class 1A state tournament.

The Lady Hawks beat Cissna Park (31-6) by a score of 55-39 in the semifinal on Thursday and lost 63-45 to Pecatonica (32-6) in Saturday’s championship game.

Before getting to Normal, Carrollton hit the road a lot throughout the postseason.

The journey began in the Illini Bluffs Regional, then got a little farther out in the Raymond (Lincolnwood) Sectional, before the Okawville Super-Sectional.

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A whole lot of driving. But needless to say, the Carrollton faithful traveled with the team every step of the way.

“Our battle, our road to get here, our fans were behind us the whole way,” Carrollton head coach Brian Madson said. “It just kept snowballing. Each game we had more people, more people, more people. To see the support we had today speaks volumes for Carrollton.”

Saturday’s state championship nearly filled the entire lower bowl of CEFCU Arena between the two schools. It was an even split between Pecatonica Purple and Carrollton Kelly Green.

“I’m just kind of overwhelmed by all the love and support our town and community has shown,” Abby Flowers said.

A special thanks to our sponsor Carrollton Bank for supporting Riverbender.com’s coverage of Alton Redbirds and Carrollton Hawks girls basketball.