On Nazareth’s first possession after halftime, Roadrunners junior guard Sophia Towne caught the ball on the left side of the court with her feet firmly on the IHSA logo.
As soon as the ball hit Towne’s fingertips, she immediately went into her shooting motion and knocked down a three. Towne was in complete control on Saturday with her scoring and passing. She manipulated the defense to her liking on Saturday. Her ability to draw in a defense to open up a passing window for her teammates is particularly impressive.
She plays with a flair that elicits audible reactions from the crowds. And when her shots are falling, or her teammates are thriving, there’s always a wide grin on her face.
Towne had a lot to smile about after her Roadrunners were dominant in their 55-23 IHSA Class 4A state championship win over Loyola. It’s the Roadrunners’ first 4A state championship — they’re a 3A school.
Towne told her coach, Ed Stritzel, that they weren’t losing, and she fulfilled her promise with a 17-point, five-assist performance that powered Nazareth.
“We’ve been waiting all year for this,” Towne said. “We were so close [last season], so we always just [being in the state championship] in the back of our minds. ‘Peak in March’ is what we always say, and once the time came, we all knew we were not losing this game.”
Nazareth star forward Stella Sakalas drew the headlines all season, but she was plagued by foul trouble all night. Stritzel has been adamant that the Roadrunners are more than a one-woman team, and it showed in the biggest game of the season.
Freshman standout Mia Gage finished with 11 points, five rebounds and five steals. Junior forward Sam Austin scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Senior guard Lyla Shelton added eight points.
Loyola had no answer for Towne off the dribble. She’s a confident player who only needs a sliver of daylight to knock down a shot. After Sakalas drew her third foul with 3:58 left in the first half, Towne continued to lead the charge.
“She just won’t lose,” Stritzel said. “[All day], she was like, ‘We’re bringing this home.’”
Sakalas is one of the best players in the state and has proved it all season. Her getting into foul trouble would be a death sentence for most teams, but not for the Roadrunners. Not only did they maintain the lead, they added to it. They didn’t falter or waver; instead, they asserted their dominance. instead they asserted their dominance.
“Loyola is a really good team, but I think we showed everybody in the state that we’re the best team in Illinois,” Stritzel said.
Whether it was Gage picking off passes and going coast-to-coast, Towne knocking down deep threes and assisting her teammates, or junior forward Sam Austin being a force on the glass, Nazareth (34-3) had many contributors in the wire-to-wire win.
After allowing 11 points to Loyola in the first quarter, the Roadrunners held the Ramblers to two, four and six points in the second, third and fourth quarters. Gage led the charge in holding Loyola to its lowest scoring output of the season with her defensive activity.
“I wanted this for my seniors so bad … just as bad as they wanted it,” Gage said.
With a 4A title win under their belts, the Roadrunners aren’t going anywhere with Towne, Austin and Gage returning next season.
“The second half of the season prepared us for these moments,” Towne said. “When the time comes, if you want to win, you want to win.”
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