‘I wanted to enjoy this last moment’: Stratton, Raiders finish fourth at state after loss to Panthers

NORMAL, Ill. — It was not the happy ending Sage Stratton had envisioned, but even as the tears streamed down her face as she watched the Washington girls basketball team celebrate Friday night’s 60-51 victory over Quincy Notre Dame in the Class 3A third-place game at CEFCU Arena, the QND senior guard had no qualms about the effort she put forth in her final game in a Raider uniform.

“I didn’t want to have any regrets, and I don’t have any regrets,” Stratton said. “I just tried to go as hard as I could. I wanted to enjoy this last moment.”

Stratton’s 20-point performance was not quite enough to get the Raiders past the Panthers, the unanimous No. 1 team in the final Associated Press state poll.

“We played a hard game,” Stratton said. “They’re a great team. Sometimes things don’t go your way. We were really fortunate to get here and we’re all extremely grateful.”

The Raiders trailed by as many as 12 points in the third quarter before going on a 7-0 run to trim the Panthers’ lead to 46-41 with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter.

After the Panthers stretched their lead back to nine with four minutes left, Stratton hit a stepback 3-pointer — her fourth triple of the game — to get the Raiders within six, and fellow senior Lauren Hummel drained her second 3-pointer to cut that lead in half with 3:12 left.

“The seniors led today,” QND coach Eric Orne said. “That was important. That’s what they’re supposed to do.”

Two empty Washington possessions gave the ball back to QND with 1:52 left and the Raiders still down three, but QND junior forward Tristan Pieper was called for an offensive foul while fighting for position under the basket, one of multiple fouls on Pieper of which Orne was not fond.

“It was unfairly unfortunate. That’s the terminology I’ll use,” Orne said. “The girls game replicates the boys game, and in the boys game, that stuff, they just don’t call. I’ll leave it at that. I’m proud of her. She’ll learn from this experience just like we all do.”

Following that possession, the Raiders only scored once on an Ari Buehler layup with 32 seconds left — the final two of her 14 points — and Washington junior guard Avery Tibbs made all eight of her free-throw attempts in the final 1:21 to ice the game away.

Stratton’s 20 points were only outdone by Tibbs, who poured in 27 points. Tibbs and Danielle Gaudet combined for 46 of Washington’s 60 points. Gaudet was 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

“That’s the thing about our team all year. It could be a different kid every night,” Panthers coach Kimberly Barth said. “Avery had a tough night last night, and I knew she had a little bit of fire in her tonight. I’m so proud of them, and it’s all those people that get them the ball, too. It’s everybody.”

Barth said Stratton’s scoring prowess and the Raiders’ quick pace provided stiff tests for the Panthers.

“(Stratton) is fantastic,” Barth said. “We had to face guard her. She can hit shots inside and out. She’s super athletic. They play really, really hard, really, really fast, so they were tough to guard, but our kids stepped up to the challenge.”

Washington beat QND to the punch on this night, but Stratton, who will continue her basketball career at Drury University, hopes the Raiders’ response to the sting of two defeats at the state tournament is one of determination.

“These are sad tears because I’m going to miss everybody,” Stratton said. “We’re all going to miss each other. That’s the way life goes. You get knocked down, and it’s how you respond. It’s how this team is going to respond next year, how they’re going to correlate this pain into gain.

“I just wish them the best, and I hope they come back here and win it all.”