Healthy Arnsman scores 30 points, guides Mustangs to Class 1A regional championship

BIGGSVILLE, Ill. — The winter storm that forced a 24-hour postponement of the Class 1A Biggsville Regional championship game might have been a blessing in disguise for the Unity girls basketball team.

Abingdon-Avon must have felt like it was a curse.

Tuesday night, prior to the regional semifinal victory over Monmouth United, Mustangs junior forward Ashlynn Arnsman began exhibiting symptoms of the stomach flu. Wednesday, she missed school. Thursday, there was no school because of the snow-packed roads and the title game was moved to Friday night..

“With her having a couple days off, I didn’t know how she’d respond,” Unity coach Brad Begeman said.

He didn’t need to worry.

Arnsman returned to score 30 points and guide the Mustangs to the regional championship with a 68-39 victory. Unity (27-5) advances to the Brimfield Sectional semifinals where it will face Elmwood at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

“Arnsman just dominated both ends of the floor,” Begeman said.

So she wasn’t lying when she told Begeman on Friday she was feeling 120 percent.

“That’s what she told me at shootaround and I said, ‘Well, that’s what we’re going to go with then,’” Begeman said. “She was hitting threes, scoring around the hoop and blocking shots on the other end. When she hit a couple of those threes, the other coach threw his hands up like, ‘What do you do?’”

There wasn’t much the Commandos could do with the Mustangs controlling the tempo and leading from start to finish.

“The girls came out on a fire and didn’t have any letdowns the whole game,” Begeman said. “The whole team contributed, and it was one of our best defensive efforts communication-wise all season. They were really after it.”

Sophia Shaffer added 12 points and Brooklyn Stiefel scored 10, and Begeman said the Mustangs could have had four or five players finish in double figures.

“They were all sharing the ball,” Begeman said. “And we created a lot of pressure with our defense.”

The Mustangs, who were ranked seventh in the final Class 1A state poll, will take Saturday off to rest and regroup Sunday to plan to face Elmwood.

“We’ll knock down some film (Saturday), break it down Sunday as a team and do some walkthroughs and set up some things,” Begeman said. “I like our chances and we’ll see what happens. We’ll make sure the girls are prepared.”