Peoria Notre Dame proves its resolve one state-ranked girls basketball opponent at a time

PEORIA — If anyone is still sleeping on Peoria Notre Dame, it’s time to wake up.

In a matchup of two of the state’s top-ranked girls basketball teams, the Class 2A No. 1 Irish proved they can play with anyone despite a 63-52 loss to Class 3A top-rated Lincoln on Saturday night at Bradley’s Renaissance Coliseum. This meeting came together in the last two weeks when both programs found themselves with identical openings on their schedules.

“People knew it was going to be a good product,” PND coach Layne Langholf, “and people that like basketball wanted to see that game. … We competed on a big stage, and I think that’s only going to help us moving forward into the postseason.”

This was PND’s 11th state-ranked opponent of the season. The Irish had just beaten 3A second-ranked Peoria High by 22 points on Thursday. Two of PND’s other three losses came to Class 4A No. 2 Alton.

Background: How 2 of the state's best teams lined up a girls basketball game at Bradley

“They’re tough,” Langholf said of what he learned about his team from the defeat. “They’re tougher than they were even a month ago. They’re physically tougher. They’re mentally tougher and that’s why we keep scheduling the best teams in the state, so these kids can continue to grow.

“It’s just going to make us better going forward.”

Back-and-forth game

A crowd of roughly 1,500 was treated to a back-and-forth affair with big momentum swings, resulting in a postseason-like feel way ahead of March.

PND (22-4), which ascended to The Associated Press’ top 2A spot on Wednesday, came out relaxed and fired on all cylinders in the game’s opening 12 minutes. The Irish built a 31-16 lead when a Mya Wardle layup forced a Lincoln full timeout with 4:19 left in the second quarter.

At the time, the Railsplitters had no answer for Julia Mingus (10 points) and her junior counterpart Kaitlin Cassidy, who had combined for 16 points up to that moment. Or an active defense that forced five first-quarter turnovers.

“Obviously, in this big environment, big game,” Mingus said, “you’re going to have a little nerves but I feel like we executed good in the first half. … We played our normal defense. We played the kind of defense we play all year round. I feel like it was very similar to our other games just with how intense it was.”

That PND lead, however, slowly disappeared as Lincoln scored the final eight points of the half and trailed 34-28. But Cassidy started the Irish off in the third quarter with back-to-back lay-ins, extending that lead back to double-digits just 2:31 into the half. The 5-foot-11 forward finished with 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting and four rebounds.

“This was such a unique experience,” Cassidy said. “Not a lot of girls get to experience this crowd and this many people here, so I think it gives us kind of (a preview) of maybe if we make it that far to state, like what we’re going to be playing in front of and all these fans.

“… I can we can do some damage (in the 2A postseason), so I’m excited.”

Lincoln pulled away

Lincoln (24-0) used the final 4:59 of the frame to go on a 15-5 spurt and tie the game at 43-43. All-stater Kloe Froebe scored a dozen of those points during that stretch. The 5-foot-9 senior guard utilized Lincoln’s 1-2-2 ball press to create turnovers and get easy buckets.

“We were definitely a little slow to start,” said Froebe, who missed her first six shots, but finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds, eight steals and five assists. “I just think we weren’t ready. They had five shooters and playing against a zone that’s really hard to guard, so we tried to change up our defense a little bit.”

Eight more successive points to open the fourth quarter gave Lincoln a 51-43 advantage and all but sealed their 52nd regular season win in a row.

The Irish were unable to recover from a six-minute scoring drought. Two free throws from Wardle, plus a steal and basket from Cassidy ended the offensive famine and brought the game back within four.

“The first and second quarter, we were just on fire,” Cassidy said. “We were unstoppable. In the third quarter, we went a little too long without scoring. That’s what kind of (got) us in the end but we played the hardest we could have played.”

Froebe, though, wrapped up the victory by going 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the game’s final minute.

Background: Why two of the state's top girls basketball teams canceled their anticipated rematch

“(PND will) have a great shot at making it all the way (to state), if not winning it all,” Froebe said, “I think they’re a great team. They have a great couple of players, and I was just glad we were able to get this game in and play a great team.”

Lexi Baer hit four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points and seven rebounds for PND. Lincoln countered with 12 points by Becca Heitzig and Jenna Bowman added 10.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA girls basketball: Peoria Notre Dame loses 1 vs. 1 game vs. Lincoln