No suspense again tonight, the Lady Potters 64, Canton 28 — unless you count as suspense the time Brandi Bisping’s shot rose to the edge of space and floated straight down to Earth . . .
It began with Bisping sprinting at full speed, slowing only for the nano-second she needed to gather for the long shot . . . Flying past midcourt by a step maybe . . . I say “maybe” because it happened so fast I’m not sure of anything except two things . . . Thing One: When the ball left Bisping’s hands, I looked up at the clock and it showed :00.8 . . .Thing Two: By the time the ball fell from the sky and through the net – nothing but net, nothing but that sweet silky song sung by a perfect shot – by then, still running, Bisping had reached the free throw line and here’s what she did when she heard her song – she jumped like a little kid on Christmas morning, dancing on air, jumping once, twice, three times. And then she began running again, off the floor, straight into the locker room. Bo Jackson once did that for the Raiders. Steph Curry did it last year for the Warriors. This one, I loved more.
Bisping came to tonight’s game sick. A virus, she hopes. She’ll have tests later this week to rule out mononucleosis. She missed practice Monday. The Lady Potters’ coach, Bob Becker, has a team rule. If you miss practice the day before a game, you can’t be in the starting lineup. So Bisping watched most of the first quarter. Not that the Potters missed the all-stater, running up a 15-0 lead and causing Canton’s coach, Layne Langhoff, to say, “You’re in trouble when you’re down 15-0 and their best player is coming in.”
Playing little more than half the game, Bisping led Morton’s scoring with 17. After the mid-court shot, she made two more 3’s. It’s necessary here to say that the facts are the facts and the facts understate the truth of Bisping’s performance. The truth is in these notes from the first four minutes of the second quarter . . .
BB, jump, ball trapped under her back…BB dives, bats to Maddy…BB rips out of C hands…BB put-back, 7:19…BB power LU, 6:05…BB takes chg, 4:25.”
Unless you have seen Bisping play, those notes might as well be hieroglyphics painted on King Tut’s sarcophagus. But those of us lucky enough to know Bisping’s manner will understand. The sportswriter’s shorthand notes show the 5-foot-11 senior was, again, as always, an unforgiving warrior at both ends – or, to quote her, “Pretty good for a sick girl.”
All of Bisping’s good, even sensational stuff, was of a piece with the Lady Potters’ full-game performance. As good as they were in 15-0 sprint out of the gate, the Potters were better in a 19-2 run that included Bisping’s mid-court shot and stretched three and a half minutes into the third quarter.
They ran a 26-16 lead to 45-18 – mostly because Becker sent his team into a full-court press that rendered Canton helpless. That press featured a front line of Bisping, sophomore Tenley Dowell, and freshman Lindsey Dullard. They go 5-11, 5-11, and 6-1, and they have arms that reach forever. Becker’s assistant coach, Bill Davis, a hockey aficionado, calls those long, tall girls the “Condor Line.” Unless you were a Canton fan, it was amusing to see Canton’s girls think they could throw a pass OVER or even THROUGH the Condor Line. In the first 3:37 of the third quarter, Morton outscored Canton, 14-2.
Dowell began it with a fast-break, Josi Becker added two free throws, Kassidy Shurman a 3, Bisping two free throws and a 3 of her own, then Becker two more free throws.
There 45-18. Game over.
Canton came in with an 8-3 record and is probably the second-best team in the Mid-Illini Conference. The Potters rendered Canton helpless and are now unbeaten in 11 games. They are winners of 24 straight going back to last season’s state championship run. They have won 29 straight at the Potterdome and have won 77 of their last 83 games, enough to move the losing coach, Langhoff, to superlatives.
He said, “In my 20 years coaching, they’re as good as anybody I’ve seen. They’re typical Becker – they don’t turn it over, they play defense, they play hard.”
There is also this: Langhoff said he gives his defenders a “color guide” as to their opponents’ shooters, “red, yellow, and green.” That means some shooters can be ignored, some are worth attention, and some can hurt you bad. “Morton’s are all ‘green,’” he said.
Then Langhoff turned to Todd Bisping, Brandi’s father, there with his older daughter, Brooke, the Potters’ all-time leading scorer and now a Becker assistant.
“Now your family has done everything to me,” Langhoff said, laughing. “Brooke had 42 and 20 against us.” That’s points and rebounds. “Now Brandi hits a running mid-court shot at the buzzer. And I don’t think either one of them has ever missed a free throw against us.”
Not sure about Brooke, famous for never missing against anybody. But Brandi has made her last 20 against Canton and 32 of 36 in her career. She is, certainly, a “green” one.
Bisping had 17 points, Dowell 14, Dullard 7, Josi Becker and Shurman 6 each, Claire Kraft 4, Caylie Jones,.Maddy Becker, and Megan Gold 3 each, and Jacey Wharram 1.