Grace under pressure: Reed-Custer rallies to top JCA for girls basketball regional title

COAL CITY — Being in a close game is nothing new for the Reed-Custer girls basketball team this year. So, it seemed fitting that Thursday night’s IHSA Class 2A Coal City Regional championship game against Joliet Catholic Academy would also be a tight affair.

That is was, until the Comets dominated on defense in the fourth quarter, erasing a five-point deficit early in the period and embarking on a 16-0 run that put them ahead 11 en route to a 51-42 win that gave the program its first regional championship since 2005-06.

“I was telling the girls at practice yesterday to look over my shoulder,” Reed-Custer coach Shelby Zwolinski said. “The last regional title on the girls basketball banner was 2006. I told them they had a chance to put 2025 on there.”

It wasn’t easy. JCA made sure of that from the start.

The Angels, who finish with a 7-26 record, scored the game’s first seven points and led the entire first half, fashioning a 25-21 halftime lead. At the end of the first half, though, the Comets showed signs of things to come by scoring the final four points of the half to cut a 25-17 deficit in half.

Senior Leah Grace, who led Reed-Custer (15-15) with 23 points, scored those points for the Comets, and she continued to stay hot the rest of the game.

The two teams played nearly even in the fourth quarter and the Angels took a 31-28 lead into the fourth. They then got a basket by Allison Lesters to start the fourth and move ahead 33-28 before the Comet defense went to work.

Reed-Custer held JCA scoreless until 55.9 seconds remained when JCA’s Abby Dulinsky (24 points) broke the drought. By that time, though, Grace and her teammates had put their stamp on the game.

Grace started the rally by draining a 3-pointer and Gwen Stewart tied the game with a short jumper with 4:23 remaining. Alyssa Wollenzien (11 points) made a free throw to put the Comets ahead with 3:21 left before Grace hit perhaps the biggest shot of the night. She swished a 3-pointer from the right corner, right in front of the large crowd of Comet fans, to put her team ahead 37-33.

“I wasn’t nervous,” Grace said about the shot. “I was just focused on the shot. I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was open and I took it.

“We have been good under pressure all year. We just don’t give up. We all get along well and we love each other.”

The Comets made 7-of-8 free throws in the next two minutes to move out to a 44-33 lead before JCA put on a rally of its own. However, it was too little, too late as Reed-Custer went 7 of 10 from the foul line in the game’s final minute to put it away.

“It feels really good,” Zwolinski said about the regional title. “I have had some phenomenal players in my five years here, but this group is so special. I am so proud of them. They work hard and they never give up. You can’t coach that. They just have it. And, it’s nice to know we have that going into every game. I always know we are going to get their best effort.

“Leah Grace was outstanding tonight. It seems like it’s someone different every game for us. In the fourth quarter, we knew who their shooters were and we did a good job of taking an extra step toward them and getting a hand in their face when they shot. We also did a good job on the opposite side of getting in there for the rebound.”

Reed-Custer will play at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the first semifinal at the Hercher Sectional against Watseka-Milford, which won the Watseka Regional with a 43-35 win over Hoopeston.