Schreacke beats buzzer twice, gives QND girls needed momentum in state semifinal victory

NORMAL, Ill. — The ball ending up in Abbey Schreacke’s hands with the seconds ticking away didn’t come as a surprise.

Neither did the fact she made the shot.

Well, the first one wasn’t a shocker. The second made those inside Redbird Arena either jump for joy or drop their head into their hands.

Schreacke, the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team’s first-team all-state junior guard, made buzzer-beaters at the end of both the first and second quarters Thursday, changing the momentum of the Class 2A state semifinal and propelling the Raiders to a 56-44 victory over Pana.

“Usually when time is going down, Coach tells me to get it in my hands,” Schreacke said. “I just take it and try to get open for a shot.”

The first came after a defensive stop with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter. QND’s Sage Stratton cleared the defensive rebound and got the ball to Schreacke, who dribbled into the front court and buried a jumper from a few steps beyond the top of the key.

“She has a knack of getting those to drop,” QND coach Eric Orne said. “She practices those plays. It’s almost like it’s a set play at this point. We let her create and make those big-time shots. They were huge because they are such daggers for the other team.

“You do a good job on her, and then she turns around and makes an amazing play. That swings the momentum back to us and we run with the energy.”

The shot at the end of the second quarter was a monumental boost.

An 8-0 run by Pana had been stymied by two free throws from the Raiders’ Blair Eftink with 1:02 remaining in the half. Misses by both teams and a turnover by the Panthers with 6.2 seconds to play gave Schreacke another chance.

She took the inbounds pass in the backcourt, dribbled across the hardwood to the left wing and threw up a flip-it-from-your-hip shot that found the net for a 29-23 halftime lead.

“I was trying to get into a jumper like I usually do,” Schreacke said. “She was right on me. So I had to fake and fade and throw it up there. Luckily, it went in.”

The difference between a three-point and a six-point lead at the break felt astronomical.

“It may not seem like much, but it definitely is a huge boost going into the second half,” Quintero said. “I’m glad Abbey was able to make those buzzer-beaters.”

It deflated the Panthers, too.

“That definitely hurt,” Pana coach Brent McKinney said. “I don’t want to say it was a backbreaker, but it did sting a little bit. We had that momentum going. If we could have held for the last shot, maybe at worst we’re down five. If we get a shot, maybe we’re down two or three.”