Lady Potters 43

Rochester 36

Odd, what’s happening with these Potters. This afternoon they were up by 20 against a team that scared the tournament’s #1 seed yesterday before losing by 13. They had played “very well for three quarters,” coach Bob Becker said. He believed his team was on the verge of winning by 20 or 25, except–

–there was that fourth quarter thing again.

You may remember Morton’s fourth quarter in its State Farm Holiday Classic’s second-round game against Normal. The Potters had five points in the fourth that night, to lose by five.

Against Rochester, four points, none in the last five minutes.

This time, instead of putting their foot on somebody’s throat, Morton was–

–listen to Becker.

“The finish was terrible, a poor, weak finish. They out-hustled us, out-scrapped us, and we became complacent and wimpy with the ball.”

It was 13-8 after a quarter, 27-11 at the half, and 39-23 after three. Morton’s aggressive 2-3 zone defense stifled any offense the Rochester folks thought might work. Against a passive Rochester zone, Morton’s ball-handling was efficient enough to produce 20 points in the paint.

Both Ellie VanMeenen and Tatym Lamprecht had 9 points through the first three quarters, each with a 3-pointer.

But from a 39-19 lead at 2:08 of the third, the Potters were outscored the rest of the way, 17-4. Most of that damage – the “poor, weak finish” – came in the fourth quarter after Rochester junked its zone and put so much pressure on the Potters’ ball-handlers that in the game’s last five minutes Morton managed only one shot – one, as in 1, one more than none, that 1 a gawdawful, falling-away fling of a thing.

Then came the first wimpy turnover. Followed by another. Though his team was up by 14 with 1:40 to play, Becker, never in favor of wimpy ball-handlers, called a timeout. Followed by another turnover. And another, causing Becker to call another frustrated-coach timeout, this one with 29 seconds to play.

Followed by the Potters’ fifth turnover in the game’s last two minutes.

Then, after a Rochester 3-pointer with four seconds to play, it was over.

One was glad.

Another oddity, this one about history: Morton had played Rochester twice before, both times in state championship games, winning in 2015 and again in 2017. The scores were 47-37 and 44-37. This time 43-36.

Anyway, the victory sent Morton into the winner’s bracket fifth-place game later in the evening.

Morton’s scoring this afternoon: VanMeenen 11, Lamprecht 9, Addy Engel 7, Ruby Brubaker 6, Izzy Hutchinson 5, Abbey Pollard 3, Magda Lopko 2.