Carrollton slams Darr on Brown County’s season with fourth quarter blitz

BLUFFS, Ill. — Carrollton’s Harper Darr said she was finally able to “get out of her head.”

As a result, the Brown County girls basketball team finds itself out of the postseason tournament.

Darr’s season-best 18-point performance, including nine in the fourth quarter, helped propel Carrollton to a 47-43 victory in the Class 1A regional basketball finals Thursday night in front of about 930 fans at Bluffs High School.

Darr, a 5-foot-9 senior, had struggled finding her shooting touch for much of the season, averaging just 6.5 points per game.

That all changed against Brown County, a team Carrollton has only beaten twice in their last eight meetings — both of those victories coming in a regional tournament. Carrollton also ousted Brown County a year ago at this time.

Darr said she simply tried to forget the past and concentrate on the present.

“I just tried to get out of my head,” she said. “I just concentrated on shooting the ball and not overthinking everything.”

Carrollton (26-7) outscored Brown County 17-11 in the fourth quarter, running off eight straight points after the Hornets (24-8) had assumed a 42-39 lead with 2 ½ minutes to play. Fittingly, it was Darr who ignited the pullaway, sinking her fourth 3-pointer of the game.

“I’d have to call this an upset,” said Darr, whose club had lost twice to Brown County back in December by a combined 23 points.

Carrollton coach Brian Madson said Darr typifies the strength of the Hawks.

“There’s just no quit in these girls,” Madson said. “Darr has been up and down this season, but lately she’s been playing tough as nails.”

Brown County coach Dave Phelps, whose team capped a fourth straight 20-win season, had watched the Hornets open up a 38-33 advantage with a little more than five minutes to play.

“We had opportunities, but we couldn’t seal the deal,” Phelps said. “When you hold a team to 43 points, you should win. We had opportunities early in the game to put it away.”

Kenzie Kassing’s 17-point, 11-rebound, 3-block performance led Brown County, which saw an eight-game win streak end. Kassing, a 6-foot-sophomore, cracked the 1,300-point mark for her career and will enter her junior season with 1,316. She stands fifth on the Hornets’ career scoring list. Vanessa Markert, who played from 2011 to 2015, is No. 1 with 2,072.

Maggi Henry finished with 10 points, cementing a solid effort with nine points in the final period.

Ashlee Markert, the only Brown County senior in its starting lineup, grabbed 11 rebounds, scored seven points and blocked three shots in her swan song. Phelps said Markert ends her career No. 2 in both career rebounding and assists at Brown County.

“I’m excited about next season,” Phelps said. “We had some big wins this year and we were playing three and four sophomores most of the year.”

Lauren Flowers, who has scored 2,077 points in her Carrollton career, finished with 18 after a slow start. Flowers, an NCAA Division I softball recruit for Illinois State, is averaging 24.5 points a game and had a season high of 45 earlier this month in a 90-29 win over Bunker Hill. Flowers had scored 20 or more points in each of her previous four games against Brown County.

Carrollton advances to meet Okawville (20-11) at 6 p.m. in the sectional semifinals at Raymond Lincolnwood. Okawville ousted Sandoval 42-27 on Thursday night.