He wanted his two seniors, Brandi Bisping and Jacey Wharram, to get one more standing ovation on a Senior Night electric with ovations. So the coach, Bob Becker, sent both into the game with 3 minutes and 1 second to play. “You’ll come out in 30 seconds,” he said. Becker gave them one instruction. He said, “Do something sensational.”

So when they came out, Bisping and Wharram, already sensational for four years, remembered hearing a suggestion from someone on the bench. Someone suggested a way they could make their final exit a piece of grand theater, forever memorable, a story that will live in Lady Potter lore.

Here comes Bisping toward the bench in that high-stepping lope of hers. Then she’s slowing down . . . and she’s turning sideways . . . and she’s tilting her body . . . and she throws herself down to the court where . . .

CARTWHEEL!!

Bisping and Wharram are seniors in high school and for that moment they are little kids again doing happy, laughing CARTHWEELS on the floor, after which they hug each other and bounce over to Becker for more hugs.

On this smiling night, the Morton High School Lady Potters defeated Washington High, 56-22. Already the Mid-Illini Conference champions, the Potters finished the league season undefeated, 14-0. They are 27-2 overall going into next week’s regional when they begin a quest for their third straight Class 3A state championship – a three-peat done only once in Illinois history, by Lombard Montini in 2010-11-12.

This victory was yet one more built on unrelenting pressure at both ends of the court. Good heavens, poor Washington. The visitors might have thought they had a chance. They trailed only 9-6 late in the first quarter. But anyone who has seen the Potters play – especially seen them lately — knows one thing to be true. It. Won’t. Be. Close. Much. Longer.

With 24 seconds left in the quarter, freshman Lindsey Dullard dropped in a layup. Washington’s in-bound pass was stolen by Courtney Jones, who moved the ball to Tenley Dowell for a short jumper on which she was fouled. In eight seconds, the lead had gone to 14-6.

Done? Nope. On a three-shot possession 45 seconds into the second quarter, Bisping wound up making two free throws. While Washington flailed on offense – twice hitting the bottom of the backboard with shots, twice throwing up air-balls on 3’s – Morton continued its run.

Kassidy Shurman a 3. Bisping a powered-up layup on another three-shot possession. Bisping another layup and two free throws.

Remember when it was 9-6? Suddenly, it was 25-6. It happened on a 16-0 run in 4:34. I used to play a game with buddies on press row. We called it, “Got enough to win?” Meaning, can the good team beat the mediocre team without scoring another point? At 25-6 and with 2 ½ quarters to play, Morton already had enough points to win.

It was 27-8 at halftime, 42-17 after three, and a 13-0 run in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter made it 55-17.

All of it was remarkable, which is no surprise, for the Potters are now playing at a high level. But if I had to choose two seconds as the most extraordinary two seconds of the night, maybe even my favorite two seconds of the entire season, those two seconds came at 7:06 and 7:05 of the third quarter.

Those two seconds starred Brandi Bisping. Of course.

At 7:06 she made a 17-foot jumper. No. Wait. To Bisping’s confusion and to the surprise of anyone with eyes, a referee ruled that Bisping was fouled before the shot. Instead of two points, instead of the and-one free throw, the Potters put the ball in play from the baseline. It came in to Bisping. And here’s what Bisping did at the 7:05 mark.

From halfway up the right side of the arc, she threw in a 3.

Of course.

More than once, I’ve called Bisping a warrior. Now that we’ve seen her for the last time in the Potterdome, I’ll do it again. She is unafraid. When the challenge is greatest, she is at her best. She does not bring high energy to her work – she brings nuclear energy. Forget the scoring, forget the rebounding, forget the strength she brings to the bruising work in the paints; lots of people have physical talent. Bisping does the harder thing: by the examples of her fearlessness and enthusiasm, she raises a good team to greatness.

(Besides all that, she’s an interviewer’s delight, as on an occasion when she seemed near exhaustion after single-handedly beating U High. I asked if she could possibly have gotten one more rebound. Eye contact unwavering, she said, “If I wanted it.” I believed her 1000 percent.)

Speaking of Bisping at a post-game celebration for the seniors, Becker also moved between admiration and hyperbole. He upped the ante with this: “A strong argument could be made that Brandi is the very best Potter ever to put on the uniform.” She is the second Potter ever to score more than 1,000 points and get more than 1,000 rebounds. (Bumgarner the other.)

If Bisping is the rare talent that comes along once a decade, Becker counts Wharram as the prototypical Lady Potter, “a great teammate, a positive force always,” to quote the coach. Becker said he first saw Wharram as a “cherubic point third-grade point guard bringing the ball up the court.” She grew into a 5-foot-11 post player, a good defender and strong rebounder who admits she once thought she’d never make the varsity. Yet, by dint of hard work, Becker said, “Jacey made herself a starter on a 27-2 team and an all-star in her role.”

Wharram called the night “bittersweet,” for her time in the Potterdome was over, and Bisping called it “unforgettable,” all the games, the practices, camps, bus rides, all that work all those years, “all my teammates helping make me the person I am.”

Bisping led Morton’s scoring tonight with 14 (and had 9 rebounds, giving her 1,032 for her career, now 17 behind Bumgarner, the record-holder). Dowell and Josi Becker had 10 points apiece, Dullard 7, Wharram 6, Caylie Jones 5, Shurman 3, Olivia Remmert 1.

(A note on Dullard: the 6-foot-1 freshman blocked 6 shots. Only two Potters ever have blocked more than 6 in a game – Sarah Livingston, who 9 times blocked at least 7, and Kali Birkey, who had 7 once.)

What a sweet night it was, Senior Night, with parents escorting Bisping and Wharram to center court for a standing ovation by one of the largest crowds ever for a Lady Potters game, maybe a thousand people there, students, family, parents, grandparents, fans. I swear, Morton’s pep band must have had 100 musicians on stage, everyone armed with brass. Loved ’em.

Becker narrated the seniors’ pre-game ceremonial walk to midcourt. Of Wharram he said, “Jacey has matured into a leader and a consistent positive voice for our team. . . . Words of wisdom from Jacey: ‘You don’t have to play on varsity as a freshman. To be a good player, just work hard and you’ll get there!’”

Of Bisping the coach said, “She has amassed 1,597 points and 1,023 rebounds to help lead her teams to a record of 118-13 . . . Among Brandi’s favorite basketball memories is winning back-to-back state championships and making Coach buy her South African lobster tail for $60. Brandi’s words of wisdom: ‘A vision without action is just a dream.’”

Say what? Lobster tail? Stay tuned. I’ll get to the bottom of that story.