Steph Reichle won’t suit up for Illinois State until next year, but she looked right at home in Redbird Arena Friday night.
Reichle scored a game-high 22 points to lead Lincoln to a 48-42 victory over Lyons Township in the quarterfinals of the Class AA state basketball tournament.
Lincoln (27-4) advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, where it will play Galesburg, which upset Loyola 56-54.
Reichle didn’t have a particularly good shooting performance (7 for 16), but she scored nine points in the decisive fourth quarter.
“I was trying to make something happen,” she said. “If I didn’t get my shot off, I wanted to dish it to a teammate.”
Reichle, who had six rebounds and seven steals, said her teammates had been looking forward to a rematch since a 63-57 loss to the Lions in the Chicagoland Prep Classic in January. Lincoln coach Ed Moore was so upset at that game that at halftime he told his players to get dressed because he was taking them home.
“It was about heart,” Moore said Friday. “I challenged them. It was gut-check time. We wanted Lyons. We wanted respect.”
Neither team played well offensively Friday. Lincoln shot 39 percent from the field with 11 turnovers. Lyons (30-5) made only 37.2 percent of its attempts and had 19 turnovers.
“They executed their game plan to the `T,’ ” Lyons coach Dawn Schabacker said. “Everyone was nervous, and I think our nerves may have lasted a little longer.”
The momentum shifted when Angie Bossingham nailed a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to cut Lyons’ lead to 29-28.
“That was huge,” Moore said. “That gave a us a big lift.”
The Railsplitters opened the fourth with an 8-2 run to take the lead for good. Bossingham, who finished with 14 points, again was the catalyst. She had another three-pointer, a steal and an assist during that span.
“When Angie makes shots, she normally plays pretty darn good defense,” Moore said.
The entire Lincoln team played tough defense, especially against Lyons’ leading scorer, Amanda Papuga, who finished with five points on 2-of-14 shooting.
Katie Meyers led Lyons with 15 points and nine rebounds. Allison Clark added 14 points.
