They were up eight when Abby VanMeenen blocked a layup. The ball landed in Addy Engel’s hands. This is what she did with it. Bye-bye. Gone. Maybe 70 feet in, what?, 10 strides. A layup at the other end. That quick. Second quarter, early, an asterisk on the note, like . . .

*Addy all the way, LU, 7:12.

Then the best part happened. Not that we could hear it from the other end of the gymnasium, but Addy Engel allowed herself a moment. She shouted at the ceiling. A roar? Maybe a laugh. Let’s call it one of those holycowlookwhatwejustdid moments that winners enjoy so much.

Next thing anyone knew, the Potters had gone off on a 15-3 run in 6 ½ minutes that served as advance notice of a 15-0 run in the first 7 ½ minutes of the third quarter en route to a 48-21 lead. This against a Class 4A team with an 8-6 record.,

Nighty-night, as Steph Curry would say.

Or, to quote Addy Engel, “It was really fun.”

Even better, the Potters’ coach, Bob Becker, framed it in an historic sense. This team reminds him of moments in the last decade when the Potters won four state championships in five seasons: “They have what our great teams had, that connectedness where they’re excited for each other’s success.”

It was the Potters’ best performance of the season. Defensively, they gave the Wheatons no room; 5 of the losers' first 7 field goals were 3-pointers, largely because Morton’s mix of hustling, aggressive defenses kept them outside the 3-point arc.

Offensively, the Potters attacked relentlessly; each of their starters – Engel, Ellie VanMeenen, Abby VanMeenen, Paige Selke, Izzy Hutchinson – scored in the first quarter.

“We were completely dominant for three quarters,” Becker said, and then the bench got to join in on the laughter.

Their eighth straight victory and 12th in 15 games sent the #7 seeded Potters into a quarter-final game of the State Farm Holiday Classic. At 7 p.m. Thursday night, they play the #2 seed, Chicago Hyde Park, their toughest competition since a loss to Lincoln a month ago.

Engel led the scoring with 19, Ellie VanMeenen had 17. Anja Ruxlow had 6, Izzy Hutchinson 5, Paige Selke 5, Abby VanMeenen 3.