Much like its matchup at Kankakee last month, Morris found itself down to the Kays early Tuesday night at Metamora’s Toepke Gym at the IHSA Class 3A Metamora Regional semifinals.
That Jan. 22 matchup resulted in a Morris win, so when Morris found itself in a nearly identical situation, it did not panic. Morris never had a lead until the third quarter and it turned that into a 44-32 win.
“That was huge,” Morris head coach Mike Lutz said. “That was a big bump for the postseason. I know the girls were a little nervous at the beginning and you could see that, but they settled in.”
Morris’s Lily Hansen led all scorers with 15 points, Alyssa Jepsen added 14 and Maddi Simpson scored nine. Morris shot 22.7 percent from the field, a number overcome by a resilient defensive effort, improving to 13-19 and more importantly, into Friday’s championship game against the host Redbirds.
The first quarter was controlled by the Kays in the beginning, as Ava Johnson’s layup and a free throw by London Stroud gave the Kays an early 3-0 advantage they’d go on to hold for quite a while. A 3-pointer on the wing by Simpson cut the Kankakee advantage to 8-7 after the first quarter.
Things started to take a turn for the worst for Morris in the second quarter. Morris shot an eye-opening 1-for-17 from the field and meanwhile the Kays went on an 8-0 run from a 3-pointer by Johnson and a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Malea Harrison to take a 18-12 lead into halftime.
“During halftime when we were down I was a little bit nervous,” Hansen said. “But then we just talked before the third quarter, and we were just like, ‘alright, we know what we have to do to get it done.’”
Morris eventually got its first lead in the third quarter from free throws by Jepsen, but a late Kankakee 4-0 run capped a 27-26 Kays lead heading into the final quarter.
The final quarter saw Morris dominate. It caused 10 Kankakee turnovers and got a 31-30 lead midway through the quarter that was started by a pair of free throws by Hansen, which was the lead they would not give up for the win.
“I’ve got to credit our defense,” Lutz said. “Not [forcing] jump balls, causing them to throw it away. That helped, our defense was great.”
Morris is set to take on top-seed Metamora for a Class 3A regional championship Friday night. If Tuesday’s performance is any indication of what’s to come, Morris should not be overlooked.
“After the year we’ve been through, the girls have made a complete 180 and are playing well now,” Lutz said. “We’ve been underdogs all year, so why not keep it going?”
Kankakee’s season comes to an end at the hands of a team that beat them in the regular season in comeback fashion as well. With no seniors on the roster, the Kays are looking to return their entire roster for a deeper push in 2027 after a 21-9 2025-26 campaign
“We’ve got some talented kids,” Kankakee head coach Kurt Weigt said. “They got to put in the work in the offseason, but the potential for us to be pretty good next year is certainly there.”
Harrison led the Kays with 14 points while Johnson chipped in 12 points.