Bureau Valley hits Somonauk-Leland with avalanche of early 3-pointers

MANLIUS - This storm was more like an avalanche.

The Bureau Valley Storm came out blazing in the first quarter of Saturday’s regional quartefinals at the Storm Cellar against Somonauk-Leland, hitting four 3-pointers.

The Storm finished with six 3-pointers on the way to a 54-42 win over Bobcats to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals of the Class 2A Princeton Regional at 6 p.m. against top-seeded Rock Island Alleman.

Storm sophomore Libby Endress said it’s all about having a shooter’s mentality.

“We just keep shooting, even if it’s good or bad,” Endress said with a laugh. “It helps when we’re having good nights, but when we’re having bad nights, it takes it toll.”

“This year we’ve done a lot of shooting. It’s something we feel is a strength of ours,” BV first-year coach Jon Henegar said. “So we shoot the ball. Even at the end of the game, we just kept shooting the ball. We’re up 10 or 12 and we’re still shooting. Overall, we work on it. They all work on it individually and we work on it as a team.”

At the same time, Endress and Henegar said the Storm are very unselfish.

“I think we just want to win and so when one person is getting hot, we just try to feed them because we know that’s the only way we can do it. I think that’s why we’ve been winning more.”

“We talk about making one more pass a lot to get a good shot. Maybe that one more pass for a great shot,” Henegart said. “They’re all very unselfish and they’ve been like that all year.”

Four different players connected on 3-pointers for the Storm with junior Kadyn Haage hitting three treys and Endress, Brooke Helms and Bella Birkey one each. Endress scored a game-high 21 points with Haage adding 11, Helms eight and Emily Wright six.

It was Somonauk’s Kiley Mason, who got things started with an early 3-pointer out of the gate. She finished with three treys en route to a team-high 19 points.

Haage answered with a 3-pointer of her own to help send the Storm out to a 12-5 lead, capped by a steal and layup by Helms.

Then came an avalanche of Storm 3-pointers with Helms and Haage connecting on back-to-back treys to give the Storm a 20-13 lead. Birkey followed a drive and 1 of 2 free throws by Endress with a 3-pointer to send the Storm to a 26-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“I feel like we’ve struggled sometimes starting games well. Towards the end of the season, we’ve got better at it. And that really gives us momentum the rest of the game,” Endress said.

Bureau Valley scored the last five points of the second quarter to take a 35-25 halftime lead.

Leah Norris opened the second half with a hoop for Somonauk only to have Endress answer with a 3-pointer. Endress then dished to Wright for a basket inside and came back with two free throws and cashed in a runner to give the Storm their biggest lead of the night at 44-27 at quarter’s end.

“It was an exciting win. I knew the girls were ready for that one,” Henegar said. “We had a really good practice Thursday and Friday and we’re ready to go. You could just tell by their energy before the game we were going to play well today.

Macey Kinney and Ashley McCoy each chipped six points for the Bobcats.

Top-seeded Alleman (22-9), which lost to eventual state champion Peoria Notre Dame for the sectional championship at the Storm Cellar last year, awaits Bureau Valley in semifinal play on Tuesday. The Storm are ready for the challenge.

“I think this gives us confidence and we have hung with good teams like United,” Endress said. “That gives us confidence going into the game that we can do anything. And we can make an upset if we really play with heart.”

“I’ve been really focused on Somonauk this week. Haven’t had a chance to watch much of Alleman yet,” Henegar said. “They’re the 1 seed for a reason. It will be a tough challenge for us. But we’re excited. We’re going to have practice on Monday and get ready for them. We’ll watch a lot of film next few days as well.”