Top-ranked Raiders roll to regional victory over West Hancock; Illini West’s upset bid thwarted by No. 7 SHG

QUINCY — One down. Six to go.

The Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team opened its quest for a second straight state championship with a 79-33 victory over West Hancock in the Class 2A regional semifinals Monday night at The Pit.

Granted, QND (30-1) was a heavy favorite, but there was no chance of overconfidence being a problem in the first of what it hopes will be a seven-game march through the postseason.

“Going into the tournament, we talked about everyone starting off with a 0-0 record,” said Blair Eftink, a 5-foot-7 senior guard who scored 19 points in the first half when QND built a 52-16 advantage.

“We played it just like a normal game,” QND freshman guard Ari Buehler said. “There was no overconfidence.”

Notre Dame, ranked No. 1 in the most recent Associated Press Class 2A state poll, faces Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (26-6) in Thursday’s 7 p.m. regional championship game. SHG, ranked No. 7, held off Illini West 34-26 in Monday’s other semifinal at The Pit.

The Raiders will enter their date with SHG carrying a 23-game win streak.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Eftink said.

Sacred Heart-Griffin finished fourth in last year’s Class 3A state tournament. The Cyclones were runner-up to Class 3A Rochester in this season’s Central State Eight conference race.  The Cyclones and Raiders met on Dec. 8 this season, with QND winning 36-24.

QND scored the first nine points of the game, the last 10 points of the first quarter and the last 18 points of the first half to seal the deal early against West Hancock (13-19), which closed its season with four straight losses.

Notre Dame coach Eric Orne said those early runs the Raiders made were crushing blows.

“We had a lot of good, clean looks early in the game,” he said. “We value everyone we play. You can’t look past any opponent. (Those early runs) took the pressure off, and we were able to spread the wealth.”

Abbey Schreacke was QND’s other double-figure scorer with 15 points, getting nine of her total in the second quarter when the Raiders outscored West Hancock 29-9.

Schreacke, a 5-11 senior bound for Missouri, is now seven points shy of 2,400 for her career.

Sage Stratton (7) and Buehler (6) combined for an additional 13 points.

Orne was pleased with his club’s defensive effort, which led to 23 turnovers and 13-of-49 shooting by the Titans. He singled out Buehler’s work on the perimeter.

“At some point (in the postseason), it will come down to defensive stands,” Orne said.

Schreacke led QND in rebounding with eight. Mara Ippensen added seven and Stratton five. Stratton also had six steals.

Lillie Woodworth (13) and Lucy Woodworth (9) combined for 22 of West Hancock’s points.

An upset bid by Illini West (16-17) slipped away in the closing four minutes of its game with Sacred Heart-Griffin. The Chargers had closed within 26-24 but were outscored 8-2 down the stretch.

Izzy Hassebrock, a 5-6 sophomore guard, led SHG with 14 points, including four of her team’s final six.

Reagan Reed, a 5-11 member of Illini West’s frontcourt, led the Chargers with 11 points before fouling out with 4:39 remaining. She had scored 11 of the Chargers’ 21 points at that mark.

“Defensively, we were getting some stops, but we could not convert offensively. That hurt us,” Illini West coach Grant Surprenant said. “We knew SHG would be aggressive and likes to score a lot, but I liked the way we were able to control the tempo, both offensively and defensively.

“I thought we grew as a team this year. We only had two (key) players back from the previous year, and I knew we would be inexperienced. We had our ups and downs, but we grew as a program. There are a lot of good things to build on.”