“They battled”: Washington’s bid for state title comes up short – but not without a fight
- Jonathan Michel
- Mar 6
- 6 min read
NORMAL – There are few communities that embody a fighting spirit more than Washington, Illinois.
They’ve battled through a tornado. They’ve battled through an iconic coach passing away. They’re currently battling a diagnosis affecting a beloved figure at the school.
And the Panthers girls basketball team battled with all their might to keep their dreams of a state title alive after going down 19-0 in Thursday’s Class 3A State semifinal against St. Ignatius, but came up just short in a 48-33 loss at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
“Just have belief, it’s not over,” Washington head coach Kim Barth said about what the message was after a first quarter where nothing went right.
“We talked about the Metamora boys [sectional semifinal] game a little bit at halftime, how they were down the other night and how you had to believe, how you can never give up.”
And that the No. 1-ranked Panthers didn’t, making the No. 2-ranked Wolfpack earn every bit of the victory with multiple spirited surges in the second half.
“I'm very proud of our kids…they battled,” Barth said. “They never gave up. 19-0, we could have lost by 40 if we let it go, but we didn't.”
The Panthers will face either Lombard Montini or Quincy Notre Dame in Friday’s third-place game at 7:45 game.
It’s not the game that the Panthers wanted to end their season in, but one thing’s for certain: they’re still going to fight like anyone in Washington knows how to do.
“I feel like tomorrow, we just have to bounce back and keep going because it's still a great opportunity for us,” Tibbs said.
More from Washington's semifinal game: Faces in the crowd: St. Ignatius 48, Washington 33
Washington got in an early hole as St. Ignatius made a steady stream of shots to start the game, including three-pointers from Reganne Reardon and Maggie Helms to take an 8-0 lead after just 90 seconds.
That stream quickly turned into a raging river, as the Wolfpack converted on each of their first six shots to build a 15-0 lead. That advantage grew to 19-0 by the end of the quarter, where the Panthers went 0-for-9 from the field with five turnovers.
“I feel like in the huddle, we were a little bit defeated so we just came together and were trying to stay positive,” Washington junior guard Avery Tibbs said.
“It sucks, but we had another three quarters, so we couldn't give up,” junior forward Becca McDougall added. “We had to believe in our teammates. We had to keep shooting in defense equals offensive. We had to keep getting those stops and just run.”
A Mazzy O’Brien three broke the seal for the Panthers early in the second quarter and Washington went on a quick 7-0 run – fueled by two free throws from junior forward Dani Guedet, a trey from junior guard Ainsley Redlingshafer and a layup from Tibbs – to cut the deficit to 20-10 with 5:22 to go in the frame.
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However, St. Ignatius went on a 9-0 run to close the second as the Panthers missed their next five shots. The Wolfpack shot 12-for-22 (55 percent) from the field in the first half to Washington’s 3-for-19 mark (16 percent).
“I think they could also shoot from anywhere on the court, we are a pretty good defensive team and I think they were just making shots that we weren't used to seeing,” junior guard Mazzy O’Brien said.
Washington flipped the script in the third, coming out flaming hot out of the gates with a 10-0 run, which was capitalized by triples from McDougall and O’Brien, to get within 29-20 with 3:08 to go in the third.
“We said, ‘Hey, chip away one stop at a time,’” Barth said. “We tried a bunch of different defenses. We settled on man, the 1-3-1 [zone] only gave up four points, but we had to go back to that man defense just to pressure the basketball.”
The Wolfpack missed their first eight shots of the frame and were scoreless for over seven minutes but came back with jumpers from Reardon and Isabella Keberlein to take a 33-20 lead going into the fourth.
Then, the comeback started in earnest. Two free throws from O’Brien and a triple from McDougall, who led Washington with 10 points, made it 33-25 not even a full minute into the fourth.
A Panthers turnover led to a pair of St. Ignatius free throws, but McDougall drained another three to cut it to 35-28. Forty-six seconds later, Redlingshafer sped in for a layup to make it 36-30 with five minutes to play.
She finished with five points off the bench while O’Brien and Guedet added eight apiece. Guedet led the Panthers with 10 rebounds.
“All of our teammates, the bench, our fans, my coaches, teammates and everybody just kind of came together, and we started getting excited,” Redlingshafer said.
But there was no March magic, at least this time around, as St. Ignatius scored eight straight and Washington missed five of its last six looks from the field to seal the team’s second defeat of the season and first since a 46-45 loss to Morton on Jan. 14.
St. Ignatius was led by 16 from Reardon, 11 from Helms and nine from Isabella Keberlein.
“[Washington’s a] phenomenal team, we’ve been tracking them all year, they’re great,” St. Ignatius head coach Cara Doyle said. “We just tried to smother them and that would open some stuff up for us.”
Sad? Yes. But defeated, the Panthers were not.
They had plenty to be proud of, especially with a sea of orange flooding the stands in Normal, supporting a historic team that won the Mid-Illini Conference, played in – and won – the first game in Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions, won the State Farm Holiday Classic and set a new high bar for wins in a season.
“Even though it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, I think this season has been really eye-opening for me,” O’Brien said.
“We saw the whole community came to support us and looking up in the stands, walking out and seeing everybody there for us – even though we weren't playing the game that maybe we have been the whole season – [to] still have everybody there for us, that was just a really special moment for all of us.”
The most special guest of all – the one who all the Panthers have been playing for during the last three weeks – was even on hand too. Washington boys basketball head coach Eric Schermerhorn was able to watch the Panthers play after making the trip from St. Louis, where he’s receiving treatment for lymphoma.
“Coach E is the backbone of Washington, I feel like, for so many reasons,” Barth said. “He's in the gym next to us all the time, helping us figure things out. When he told me about his diagnosis, that he wanted to see us here in two weeks, and that he was going to be here.”
“For him to be able to make the trip tonight just shows how strong he is and I know he will be so proud of our fight and I know that he would never be disappointed in any of these kids.”
Washington will play its third place game against the loser of Quincy Notre Dame and Lombard Montini on Friday at CEFCU Arena in Normal at 7:45 p.m
“Tomorrow is the most important day right now this season, but it excites me because I know how hard these kids are going to work in the offseason,” Barth said. “I know that they're never going to settle. Even if we would have won tonight, I know that work ethic would be there.”
“But we want to come tomorrow and take care of business, finish the season on a high note and then we'll move forward after that.”
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