Prairie Ridge Comes Up Short Against DeKalb

DeKalb was the top seed in the Huntley Regional and with good reason, this club had been getting some looks in the top 10 and sported a 22-6 mark entering Tuesday's game with .

And with less than 10 seconds to play in regulation, the Wolves (14-15) had the ball and a chance to upset the top seed.

The final shot did not fall. DeKalb dodged Prairie Ridge's best effort and advanced to the Huntley Regional title game with a 47-39 overtime win.

"It was our best effort of the year,'' said PR coach Matt Timmerman. "It was a close game throughout. We played a great team and that says a lot for us to be right with them."

PR senior Haley Ljunggren closed her career with a double double (13 points, 11 rebounds). Another senior, Taylor Smerecky, chipped in eight points and four boards. Promising junior Haleigh Danek also scored eight points.

Timmerman really had no plans to coach this team but the job opened up late. And he couldn't say no.

"It was not the winter I planned,'' he said. "But now I wouldn't have traded this experience for anything. It was a privilege to coach these girls. And it's something I will miss terribly."

Whomever will take over this coaching job next winter will have plenty of good players to work with. Danek was the team's leading scorer in the second half of the season. This guard had only one game scoring in double figures heading into game 12  this season. In her last seven games, she had two games of 19 points and one of 16 points.

Two sophomores, Marisa Gerstbrein and Kelsey Bear, both saw plenty of action on the varsity team.

And there is that matter of the Wolves sophomore team.

"Our sophomores were undefeated,'' he said. "And that team started one freshman.''

In addition to Ljunggren and Smerecky, the Wolves graduate Rochelle Lebreck, who came back from a knee injury, point guard Emily Bruksch, Ashley Fenton and Lauren Hillers.