Morton’s impressive late-season stretch reached its conclusion Thursday.
The Potters lost to the Springfield girls basketball team, 78-48, in the Class 3A Champaign Sectional final.
Morton (18-16) won nine consecutive games until meeting the hot-shooting Senators, last year’s fourth-place state finisher.
“I’m proud of what we did,” MHS head coach Bob Becker said of the finish to the 2009-10 season. “The Sweet 16 was pretty sweet until we hit the wall tonight.”
In the last six seasons under MHS head coach Bob Becker, the girls have an amazing 18 postseason victories.
Springfield (30-2), the No. 3 team in the final Associated Press 3A state poll, will land a state trophy for the second year in a row after a Springfield Super-sectional championship Monday.
“Springfield is a heck of a team,” Becker said. “They’re very capable of winning the whole thing.”
Mariah Nimmo led the Potters with 12 points.
Lexi Ellis hit her first two shots, including one from long range, to help Morton to a 16-11 lead late in the first quarter.
Sarah Livingston also chipped in back-to-back field goals during a 7-2 spree for the Bloomington Regional champions.
“The first quarter kind of showed what we were going to do for the game. But eight minutes isn’t 32,” said Becker.
A basket by Potter Caitlyn Vandermeer with 2:51 left in the second period trimmed the Senator advantage to 27-26.
But Springfield went on a 9-2 spurt to close the first half, a prelude to what was ahead after intermission.
The Senators scored 13 of the first 15 points in the third quarter to go up 49-30 with less than nine minutes remaining.
Morton was hampered by turnovers and a slew of Springfield offensive rebounds in the decisive stretch.
The Senators were a plus-10 on the boards for the night.
Kendra Stimpert, Gabby Closner and senior Carly Yingling all got in the score column in the fourth period for the Potters.
Vandermeer ended up with nine points, Tisdale and Ellis seven apiece and Livingston six.
Springfield’s Zahna Medley sank a trio of treys to lead all participants with 24 points.
Morton went from being a sixth-place Mid-Illini Conference team with a 9-15 record on Jan. 27 to one of the final 16 squads left in the state less than a month later.
“Hopefully they took pride in what they accomplished because they accomplished a whole lot,” Becker said.
Eleven of the 12 players who took part in the game are eligible to return in 2010-11.
