Illinois (IHSA) high school girls basketball state championship roundup

Stories from all the action from the Illinois high school girls basketball state championship

Kenwood girls basketball celebrates its first state title after beating Fremd 65-44 in the IHSA Class 4A final on March 8 at CEFCU Arena in Normal. / Mike Clark

NORMAL, Ill. — Kenwood girls basketball coach Andre Lewis won't forget his latest win.

And it's not because it was his 300th at the school or the 500th overall.

More memorable is the fact that the Broncos won the first state title in program history in their first trip to state, pulling away to beat Fremd 65-44 in the IHSA Class 4A title game on March 8 at CEFCU Arena.

Junior guard Danielle Brooks led Kenwood (31-3) with a game-high 24 points, while senior guard/forward London Walker-George added 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals to cap her first and only season in rhe program after transferring from DePaul Prep.

Senior guard Ariella Henigan wrapped up her four-year career by scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

The win capped Kenwood's steady rise to the state's elite ranks under Lewis, who took over in 2012. On his watch, the Broncos have won the program's only regional (nine) and sectional (two) titles.

Kenwood also has had its share of frustration along the way, including losses in the past four Public League title games to Young — a rival whose season the Broncos ended the last three years.

"I've been thinking about (winning state) the last nine months," Lewis said. "I kind of felt if we stayed healthy, if we stayed focused, with the talent we have, the leadership and the veterans who have (gone) through a lot of pain — I thought this team could get it done," Lewis said.

"Because we've had misfortune. We've had all the unexpected things happen. Last year (center) Diann (Jackson) missed 17 games. We've had injuries, we've had unfortunate incidents come out at state playoff games we've had. We've had all of it. This group has experienced as close to everything that you can experience. ... And they've endured."

In the title game, the Broncos dealt with offensive struggles — missing 15 of their first 18 shots and hitting 34.9% from the floor for the game. They faced foul trouble, with Jackson fouling out and Henigan finishing with four.

The game was close into the fourth quarter. Fremd's Isabella Del Mar made two free throws with 6:30 left to cut the Vikings' deficit to 41-38. But Henigan's putback triggered an 11-0 Kenwood run that made it 52-38 with 3:59 to play and the Broncos stretched the lead from there.

During the final seconds, Henigan was able to reflect on the impact of the moment.

"My senior year, coming home with a state championship — unbelievable," she said. "It has been a journey. We've been taking so many losses. I feel like me and my group, we learned from the losses we took."

Brooks wasn't surprised Fremd (30-6) put up a fight.

"We knew it was gonna be a tough game," she said. "And we knew we had to play defense. So that was the first thing to do, was to stop them."

Kenwood forced Fremd into 22 turnovers and had a 28-3 edge in points off turnovers.

Now Lewis says goodbye to the greatest class in program history. Four seniors are Division I recruits: Henigan (Howard), Walker-George (Illinois-Chicago), Jackson (Buffalo) and Jade Hamilton-Gill (Chicago State). A fifth, Icesis Thomas, also has D1 offers.

"When I first got there, we were known as an arts school and very good academically, always," Lewis said. "But over the last decade, because of (principal Karen Calloway) and her predecessor, we have grown in athletics. And it's just a testimony to what a great community with a great academic background, great athletic resources and facilities — what we can do."

NaTallia "Coco" Urlacher, the niece of former Bears star Brian Urlacher, led Fremd with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Ella Todd also had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

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Class 3A

Montini 50, St. Ignatius 44

Montini (27-10) became the second state champ with double-digit losses, following last year's 1A winner, Okawville (25-11).

The Broncos won their fifth title by avenging a 57-48 regular-season loss to the Wolfpack (32-5).

"Hats off to them, they battled," Montini coach Shannon Spanos said. We battled. It could have been anyone's game, but we had some kids that really stepped up (with) some big buckets and big defensive possessions. ...

"It did not go the way we thought it was going to go with Natalie (Gartlan) getting hurt, with kids getting in foul trouble, Lauren (Mellish fouling) out). But they grind."

Missouri recruit Nikki Kerstein hit 12 of 13 free throws and scored a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds and five steals. Peyton Farrell added 12 points for the Broncos.

Montini used last year's state semifinal loss to eventual champ Lincoln as fuel this season.

"It's a dreadful feeling," Kerstein said. "Being able to have the opportunity to come down here again, we continue to talk about (how) we don't want to feel that again. We wanted our revenge. We wanted to finish the job."

Army commit Reganne Reardon led St. Ignatius with 20 points and nine rebounds.

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Class 2A

Nashville 55, Peoria Notre Dame 29

Nashville (34-3) cranked up its defense and held Notre Dame to the lowest score in a title game since Geneva edged Montini 28-26 in 4A in 2018.

It was a rematch of last year's 2A final, won 48-46 by Notre Dame. Nashville won its second title and first since 2013.

The Hornets forced 16 turnovers by the Irish, held a 22-4 edge in points off turnovers and limited Notre Dame to 32.3% shooting.

Nashville coach Dempsey Witte wasn't expecting a blowout.

"You just never know what's going to happen," he said. "Man, our girls played hard. ... We communicated better as the year went on and that's been an area of growth for us. So stepping out of the picks and just communicating with each other, they did a tremendous job. ...

"They worked hard in the weight room, and we've got some length that bothers people."

Emma Behrman led a balanced Nashville offensive with 14 points, Summer Brinkmann added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Samantha Brinkmann scored 12.

Julia Mingus paced Notre Dame (30-5) with 11 points.

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Class 1A

Pecatonica 63, Carrollton 45

Elaina Rager scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Pecatonica (32-6) rolled to the title in its first trip to state.

Payton Thomas added 13 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Ryleigh Alexander had 11 points and six rebounds.

It was still a two-possession game at 41-36 late in the third quarter before Pecatonica pulled away.

The game didn't play out as most have this season for Pecatonica.

"We pride ourselves on defense," coach Daniel Rosenstiel said. "And I think we gave up 10 over the average that we normally give up. And we scored 65, which is like our second highest (total) of the season."

Illinois State softball recruit Lauren Flowers led Carrollton (30-8) with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Hayden McMurtrie scored 10.

"That girl is a heck of an athlete," Rosenstiel said of Flowers. "We knew she was going to get hers. ... In the second half, we did a good job of ... making her take tough shots, which is all you can do with a good athlete."

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