Somonauk girls basketball coach Eric Roberts said that his team can often live and die by the three-pointer.
In Wednesday’s 48-29 loss to Seneca in the Class 2A Wilmington Regional semifinals, the Bobcats couldn’t get going from the outside all night, shooting 1-for-15 from the arc in the loss.
“We weren’t able to hit them,” Roberts said. “We came out slowly on Monday night also, and we never have two in a row like that, but we did. But I’m so proud of the seniors finishing off that game. They gave everything they had, we just couldn’t crawl back.”
Seneca (14-15) took advantage of Somonauk’s poor shooting at the outset, jumping out to a 13-2 lead. Somonauk (14-14) hit only 1-of-10 from the field to start the game, and the Irish took advantage.
“We felt if we got that long rebound, because we knew they would shoot a lot of threes, we would slow things down a little bit and be all right,” Seneca coach Barb Beck said. “If they get hot, it’s a whole different ballgame. We know that they like to put those threes up.”
Seneca stretched the lead out to 25-10 at the half, but Somonauk had one more run left in it. The Bobcats went on a 10-4 run in the third quarter, keyed by four Natalie Rabe points, to cut the lead to 33-22. But once again, the Bobcats went cold from the field in the fourth quarter, hitting only 3-of-13 shots from the field overall, to allow Seneca to pull away and reach Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. regional title game against Aurora Christian.
“They came out and clawed back and did what they could, I just wish we could have given them more of a fight,” Roberts said.
Ashlee Kawall led the Bobcats with nine points. Seneca’s Danielle Hauch led all scorers with 16 points while Chelsie McCormick added 10 points. The Irish now face top-seeded Aurora Christian for the regional crown Thursday.
“They’re quick,” Beck said of Christian. “They’re very athletic. We have to see how we can match up with their athletes. The way I watched those girls execute tonight, they’re going to play four solid quarters and get to every loose ball they can.”
