The Galesburg girls basketball team blitzed Ottawa with a plethora of 3-pointers from the start, en route to a 61-34 victory in the Class 3A Metamora Sectional on Monday night.
“That kind of start is tough for any team to keep up with,” Galesburg coach Evan Massey said.
The Silver Streaks (27-6) advance to the title game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. They face Richwoods, a 56-35 winner over East Peoria.
Galesburg’s suffocating full-court press forced Ottawa (19-7) into 10 first-quarter turnovers. The lost possessions — coupled with the Silver Streaks’ five 3s in the first 3:18 — left the Pirates in a 15-0 hole.
Galesburg cooled off and finished the quarter shooting just 5-for-19, but still held a 15-4 edge.
“We just happened to be hitting the 3s tonight,” Silver Streaks senior guard Jamie Johnson said. “We hit a little spot at the end of the first where we were flat, but the quick start was key.”
Johnson and Sadee Hamilton hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second frame and push the lead to 21-4.
Ottawa’s 13-3 push over the next three minutes-plus pulled it within 24-17 with 3:04 left in the quarter.
“Ottawa is a good team and well coached, so we expected them to make a run at us,” Massey said. “Their defense gave us some problems, and we had a lot of wasted possessions there in the second.”
Myra Diggins converted an out-of-bounds pass into a layup, the first Silver Streaks bucket not a 3, and pushed the lead back to nine. They entered halftime with a 30-19 lead.
Johnson dashed any Ottawa hopes of a comeback with her personal 11-point run in the third. The Silver Streaks lead expanded to 29 points by period’s end.
“Coach kept running plays for me to get to the basket,” Johnson said. “It seemed to be working good.”
Johnson finished with a game-high 25 points and four rebounds.
“(Jessica) Howard is the flash and gets most of the attention,” Massey said. “But tonight it was Jamie’s night. She does everything for us.”
Galesburg hit on 11 3-pointers on 35 attempts overall.
Kelcie Rombach led Ottawa with 18 points.
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