The legend of Ashley Luke at the Chicagoland Girls Prep Classic continues to grow.
Last year Luke limped back to the game after suffering a sprained ankle and rallied Waubonsie to a victory over Class A power Dunlap. This year the junior guard converted a four-point play with nine seconds left to give No. 19 Waubonsie Valley a 60-59 win over highly touted Galesburg Monday at Willowbrook.
What can Luke do next year to top her first two performances?
But first things first.
After Galesburg’s Jaque Howard hit two free throws with :23 remaining gave Galesburg (17-3) a 59-56 lead, Luke fired a three-pointer that came up short. But 5-foot 7-inch sophomore guard Shauna Daugherty grabbed the rebound for the Warriors (16-4) and located Luke three feet beyond the top of key.
Luke caught the pass and released her shot just as she was knocked to the floor.
“When I let it go and the girl fouled me I didn’t even see where the ball went,” said Luke. “I had no clue where it was going. I saw everyone jumping so I figured it went in.”
After Galesburg called a time out to freeze Luke, she calmly stepped to the free-throw line and sunk the game-winning free throw.
“The free throw wasn’t a big deal,” said Luke. “It was a free shot. You should make it. It’s all mental. If I was in the right mind I was going to make it.”
But making sure she got to shoot the free throw was a big deal.
“She hit my arm,” said Luke, who scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. “But the ref didn’t see it a few times (earlier in the game) so I figured if I fell (I’d get the call).”
Megan Pacheco’s three-point shot at the buzzer fell short for Dunlap.
The four-point play capped a remarkable comeback for the Warriors, who trailed 28-18 at halftime as they were outrebounded 22-11 in the first half. Galesburg held Luke to three points in the first half, but she chipped in with a few of her 11 assists as she drove the lane and dished to Leslie Davenport who had 14 of her game-high 24 points in the first half.
“Ashley was driving the lane and three players were coming up to meet her so I just rolled to the basket,” said Davenport.
A 10-0 run early in the third quarter tied the game at 30. But Galesburg’s Pacheco (19 points) scored the Silver Streaks next 10 points as they went up by six on a Pacheco three-pointer with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
“The kids stayed up and hung in there,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Callan, who starred as a player at Willowbrook.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors still trailed by six when Luke hit her first of three three-pointers in the fourth quarter with 4:34 remaining. :17 later Luke picked up her fourth foul and Jenny Zolper hit one of two free throws to put the Silver Streaks up 51-47.
But Luke drove the lane and dished to Sarah Sweer for a layup and Davenport tied the game at 51 when she hit two free throws with 2:54 left.
After another free throw by Galesburg’s Sarah Larson (18 points), Luke got free in the left corner behind a screen from Sweer and knocked down a three to give the Warriors their first lead of the game with 2:20 left.
But Larson scored on a putback just five seconds later to put Galesburg ahead by one. Luke again found Sweer for a layup to put the Warriors ahead by one. Pacheco then scored inside to put the Silver Streaks up 57-56.
Sweer missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with :30 left. Then Howard hit two free throws to put Galesburg up 59-56 and set the stage for Luke’s heroics.
“I like big games,” said Luke. “Usually in a big game I step up a little more.”
