Raiders’ ability to hit clutch free throws in final two minutes secures super-sectional victory

TAYLORVILLE, Ill. — As Ari Buehler stepped to the free-throw line with the chance to nudge the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team closer to a state tournament berth, her mind circled back to a year ago when the Raiders’ season ended with her miss at the charity stripe.

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Buehler said. “I was thinking about it.”

At that moment, she made herself a solemn vow.

“Not again,” Buehler said.

A timeout called by Mt. Vernon coach Jeff Lonnon after Buehler made the first of two free throws with 1:28 remaining Monday night in the Class 3A Taylorville Super-Sectional at Dolph Stanley Court didn’t change her focus. It only enhanced it.

“I was like, ‘I made the first one, I’m going to make the second one and I’m going to make the ones after that,’” Buehler said.

Each one was dead center perfect. Buehler made four consecutive free throws — all nothing but net — to give the Raiders a 51-47 lead with a minute to play. Then QND’s Sage Stratton and Tristan Pieper each made a pair of free throws in the final 20 seconds to preserve a 55-54 victory and a berth in the Class 3A final four.

QND (xx-x) will face Lombard Montini in the Class 3A state semifinals at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at CEFCU Arena on the Illinois State University campus.

“You make it or you miss it. That’s going to be the outcome,” said Buehler, who missed the second of two free throws with QND trailing by a point and time expired in last year’s sectional championship against Chatham Glenwood. “You can do your best to change the outcome in the moment.”

Her teammates knew there’d be no repeat of the past.

“I know she was 100-percent determined not to relive that game,” Stratton said. “She was going to make them. She got up and did it.”

That’s maturity and practice paying off.

“It’s growth,” Pieper said. “Ari’s come such a long way from last year, and she’s been doing great for us, like she always does. I think all of us knocking down free throws comes back to growth. We were ready for this moment.”

After Mt. Vernon’s Kamaree Pollard made two free throws to tie the game at 51 with 21.1 seconds left, the Rams’ Melaina Zeidalis inexplicably fouled Stratton near midcourt with 16.7 seconds left. Zeidalis immediately covered her face with both hands, realizing there was no need to foul.

Meanwhile, Stratton went to the free-throw line and gave herself a quiet pep talk, softly moving her lips as the words went through her head.

“The first thing I say is, ‘It’s just another free throw,’” said Stratton, the senior guard. “Then I say, ‘Routine.’ I keep saying, ‘Routine, routine, routine.’ When I get down to my pose, I take a really big breath, which releases all the stress from my arms right here so I’m loose and I’m able to get under it and make it.”

She buried both free throws for a 53-51 lead.

Pollard, whose nose was bloodied fighting for possession before she made her game-tying free throws, drove hard to the basket again, only this time missing the shot. Pieper secured the rebound and was fouled.

She went to the line, looked at the rim and took a deep breath.

“I’m a little hit or miss sometimes on my free throws,” Pieper said. “So focusing and taking a deep breath is what I do. Then I know I can make them.”

She made both with 6.7 seconds remaining for a two-possession lead that elicited a quick smile of relief before she hustled back to play defense.

“I was like, ‘Thank you. Thanks, Jesus,’” Pieper said.

It’s the poise in those moments that has made this run possible.

“It’s hard to practice this situation, but we try our best to create the pressure and put the thought into our heads of, ‘Hey, this is for the game,’” Stratton said. “When you prepare, then this is what happens.”