How 2 supporting players emerged as Washington and Peoria High's unlikely playoff heroes

PEORIA — Avery Tibbs is an only child, but she has a sister on the Washington girls basketball powerhouse that helped her shine.

Danielle Ruffin is on a loaded Peoria High team that includes two future NCAA Division-I players, but she played for her family legacy and the Lions.

Both girls emerged from supporting cast roles behind established stars to deliver a starring role Tuesday in the semifinals of the Class 3A Richwoods Sectional.

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Tibbs scored a game-best 23 points to lead No. 8 Washington to a 58-41 win over No. 7 Geneseo.

In the second game, Ruffin led all Lions scorers until the final four minutes of the contest against Galesburg, when Aaliyah Guyton caught up to her to share scoring honors at 18 points each on the way to a 63-34 victory over the Streaks.

Washington and Peoria High will square off next for a girls basketball sectional title at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Let's meet these two new stars.

They call her Miss Tibbs

Avery Tibbs is just a freshman. An only child who came into the Washington varsity basketball program from Washington Central, she delivered knockout shots right from the start Tuesday.

A layup, a runner in the lane and then a 3 from the right corner gave her seven of Washington's first 11 points.

"I've done the work, up every day at 5 a.m. to shoot, doing that for years," said Tibbs, who just turned 15 earlier this month. "(Washington star center) Claire McDougall is my role model, she's like the sister I don't have. She's my whole world on this team, and she's helped me get to where we are right now."

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That was broad shoulders and dead-eye shooting from the 5-foot-7 guard. She cooly hit a corner 3 at the first-quarter buzzer to pull Washington into an 11-11 tie. Her driving layup at 4:57 of the second quarter broke a 15-15 tie. By halftime, she had nine points, two assists and a steal.

"I didn't think I shot all that well in the first half," Tibbs said. "But I hit that 3 and my teammates started feeding me and telling me to keep shooting, and at one point I was thinking, 'I just can't miss.'

"This was hundreds of hours of shooting, getting better in the driveway, in the gym. During COVID, I practiced shooting in a parking lot. My parents took me everywhere, all the time, right there with me every step."

So there she was, sharing a big stage with Bradley-bound teammate McDougall, who had 11 points. Tibbs hit another runner in the lane for a 36-25 lead with 4:48 left in the third quarter. Then a dagger 3 from the left corner to stop a Geneseo run and push Washington up 41-32 with 59.1 seconds left. Then she drained a 3 from the left corner with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter for a 47-34 lead, and Washington was never challenged again.

"She has it all," said McDougall, who added 12 rebounds and eight assists to her 11 points for a near triple-double. "The only thing still developing for her is confidence. I think she can be the greatest player around. When she gets that confidence in place, as driven as she is, no one in the state of Illinois will stop her."

Tibbs finished 9-of-17 from the field, with five 3s. The Panthers take a 26-4 mark into Thursday's title game.

"She is devoted, puts the time into the game," Washington coach Kim Barth said of Tibbs. "I've known her since she was 7 and came to my camp. I asked her who she was, and she said, 'Tibbs.' That was it, just her last name.

"So that's what I call her. 'Tibbs.' And tonight Tibbs showed she can do it all."

What's in a name?

Daniel Ruffin left his legacy firmly in place at Peoria High School, and went on to finish his college career as a Bradley guard in 2007-08.

Tuesday night, he was at Richwoods High School in a different role.

"I'm watching now more as a dad than as a player or coach," Ruffin said. "It's exciting to watch my daughter play. I see glimpses of myself in her game."

And the game little Danielle Ruffin — a 5-foot-4 junior — delivered was impressive as she stood tall side-by-side with teammates and future NCAA Division I players Aaliyah Guyton and Denali Craig Edwards, plus Trinity Childs, who is headed to Parkland.

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"She's one of those really quiet kids, but she's starting to come out of that shell and her game is coming with it, getting loud, too," Peoria High coach Meechie Edwards said. "She's emerging, and you just want to watch her play and hug her all day long."

Ruffin was 7-of-16 shooting, combining drives to the rim with four 3-pointers from the corners to help the Lions blow out Galesburg.

"Getting shots up, building confidence in myself and feeling like the team trusts me, those things are making me better," Danielle Ruffin said. "This was exciting tonight for me, I wanted to be seen and I felt like I was. I love my teammates, they love me, and we took care of each other in this game."

She hit a 3 for the team's first points of the game, then hit a 3 from the left corner for 15-2 with 1:55 left in the first quarter.

In between, Galesburg went eight straight possessions without scoring.

Ruffin hit a 3 from the left corner for 29-17 with 6:33 left in the third quarter and, nine seconds later, drove for a breakaway layup off a steal for 31-17. She did it again 15 seconds apart with 2:36 left in the quarter when she hit another 3 from the left corner and a lay-in for 47-24.

With a 16-6 Lions run over 4:04 in that third quarter, Ruffin's 10-point third session meant game over.

The Streaks, carried by Kiarra Kilgore's 19 points, managed only four points in the fourth quarter as Edwards cleared his bench with 3:46 left.

"I played in Houston last season, at Cypress Creek," Ruffin said. "My dad was up here, though. I wanted to come back here and play, so he could see me.

"I know I have big shoes to fill, but I'm trying to uphold our family legacy in the game."

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As for Lions coach Edwards, who already has three college-bound players on this team and says there could be more announced soon, there's no question what the 2022-23 Lions' legacy will be.

"I've been coaching Peoria High School girls basketball for 17 seasons now," Edwards said. "That pandemic year, we had a great team, really strong, so who knows what would have happened.

"But this team, no question, is at the top, the best team I've ever had here."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Supporting players set up Washington vs. Peoria High sectional final