The good news tonight, the Potters led after a quarter, 17-0.

Better news, it was 30-8 at halftime.

The best news is I can quote, plain word for plain word, with no #$%# deleted, what the Potters’ coach, Bob Becker, said to a referee whose rabbit ears twitched so much he relieved himself by calling a technical foul on the coach.

But the happiest news came just before game time.

That’s when my iPhone delivered the luminous face of an all-time Potters great, Brandi Bisping, who carried teams to three straight state championships, the last in 2017. She held her left hand high, the better to show off a glittering engagement ring, there with her guy, Isaac Dirker.

If you will, please, look at this list. You know who these people are. Call the roll: Carly, Kait, Erin, Emma, Kayla, Chandler, Kathleen, and Jacey. They were kids, teenagers trying to grow up, when we first saw them as Potters. Now they’re married, all those stars from a decade of wonderful teams.

Next, Brandi.

Somebody call timeout, time’s flying.

Alas, alack, and sad to say, the news was not all good tonight. For instance, these current day Potters had to play the second half.

Smooth and strong early, the last two quarters they were a sputtering mess, passive on defense, worse on offense, and not for the first time lately but for yet another time. Take away the first quarter and the Potters lose, 41-33. They would lose to the last-place team in the Mid-Illini Conference, a team now 1-8 in the league and 9-16 overall.

The first quarter, all good, some of it very good, beginning with Addy Engel’s 3-pointer from the left corner. When she next missed a free throw, Ellie VanMeenen scored on the rebound. Engel banked in an off-hand driving layup, then freshman Paige Selke took over, first with a put-back, then a 3 and a drive of her own. Abby VanMeenen’s two free throws made it 17-0.

Happy, satisfied, rooting for a running clock – snow was coming, the roads would be bad, the jayvee game went three overtimes, let’s get outta here quick – I even sneaked another look at the iPhone, just for the fun of seeing Brandi again, shining.

In that 30-8 half, Engel had 13 points, again the heartbeat of the Potters’ offense. Abby VanMeenen had a big-timer’s look inside. Selke had that minute and a half run. Izzy Hutchinson did all the small, important stuff you notice only if you’re taking notes on hustle plays that make a team look efficient.

“The first half,” Hutchinson said, “we played with a ton of intensity. That’s the way we need to play for 32 minutes.”

Becker said much the same. “There was definitely a drop-off in the second half. And we can’t do that. The challenge is to be more consistent.”

Now, as to Becker and the zebra . . .

With 1:47 to play, the Potters were up 50-33. Becker was three feet out on the court, with his arms spread wide, as if to say he could not believe what he had seen. He had seen Abby VanMeenen hacked by a defender, with nothing called, and as the referee passed by, Becker commented on the man's work.

“I said, ‘You’re refereeing to the score, not to the game.’”

For that, from 25 feet away, the referee turned and called a technical foul on the coach.

Seeing the T sign, Becker commented further.

“It’s true,” he said to the referee, now heard from three rows up in the bleachers.

Just in case, Becker repeated the message.

“It’s true.”

Anyway, Metamora scored the game’s last eight points.

Morton is now 17-5, 8-1 in the Mid-Illini. The Potters next play Saturday night, at home, against a strong Galesburg team, now 20-2, that they may play again in the regionals early next month.

Oh, one more piece of good news. In the scary, swirling snow as we left Metamora, I saw a car turn off 116 onto Washington Road. Navigator Bumgarner said, "Follow that car." An hour later, Casey greeted me at the garage door. Good kitty, she earned two treats this time.

Abby VanMeenen led the Potters’ scoring with 14 (8 of the team’s 20 in the second half). Addy Engel had 13, Ellie VanMeenen 7, Paige Selke 7, Izzy Hutchinson 6, and Emilia Miller 3.