Koerkenmeier’s last-second field goal gives Mater Dei edge in rematch with QND girls

BREESE, Ill. — On the final possession of regulation in Saturday afternoon’s state tournament rematch, the Breese Mater Dei girls basketball team adapted Wee Willie Keeler’s most famous quote to suit its needs.

Instead of “hit ‘em where they ain’t,” as the National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee is credited with saying, the Knights decided to “throw it where they ain’t.”

So they lobbed the ball to 6-foot-5 junior forward Alyssa Koerkenmeier.

Tied with Quincy Notre Dame at 35 with 20 seconds to play of the Breese Central PAWS Shootout, Mater Dei worked the ball to the left wing where guard Avery Trame tossed a pass high to the block where Koerkenmeier tipped it, caught it and laid it in as time expired for a 37-35 victory.

Koerkenmeier was double-teamed on the play, and QND sent another defender from the weak side to disrupt the pass. None of it worked with Koerkenmeier’s reach longer than the Raiders could combat.

It was a reminder of what took place last March when Koerkenmeier had 21 points and 12 rebounds in a 61-54 upset of the Raiders in the Class 2A state semifinals at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena.

There won’t be a rematch this postseason since QND has been bumped up to Class 3A due to the Illinois High School Association’s success factor. However, this midseason tussle between state-ranked foes lived up to the hype.

QND led 17-16 at halftime before going on a 9-2 run to open the second half with Tristan Pieper scoring twice in the spurt. Mater Dei answered with a 13-0 run featuring a pair of 3-pointers from Maris Zuerliene and led 31-28 heading to the fourth quarter.

The game was tied twice in the fourth quarter, the last coming with 1:10 to play when QND’s Ari Buehler scored to knot the game at 35.

Koerkenmeier took care of the rest.

Sage Stratton led the Raiders (13-2) with 13 points, while Marie Eversman added 10. Koerkenmeier finished with 12 points, while Zurliene and Amanda Beer had eight points apiece for the Knights.