The rivalry that should just be starting ended Tuesday night when Freeport outlasted Boylan 54-50 in overtime.

The Pretzels, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A after returning their top four players from last year’s state runner-up team, passed their biggest hurdle to winning the NIC-10 in their first conference game. Boylan (5-1, 0-1) and Freeport (6-0, 1-0) won’t play again.

“It does kind of stink,” said forward Courtney Shiffer, who led Freeport with 22 points. “I’m glad we won. Otherwise, we would have really wanted to play them again.”

Boylan’s four sophomores added a whole new twist to this rivalry, with three playing huge roles. Brea Edwards led the Titans with 20 points.

Maloree Johnson started at point guard. “She always ended up being the one breaking free down the middle of the floor,” Freeport coach Ryan Pierce said. “That opened up a lot of things offensively for them.” And Suzie Broski was credited for holding second-team All-State forward Suporia Dickens without an offensive putback.

“She was awesome on the boards,” Edwards said.

Indeed, Freeport usually hammers teams on the boards, but Boylan had 13 offensive rebounds to Freeport’s one in the fourth quarter and overtime. That’s one reason the Titans were able to come back from a 46-37 deficit.

“I had to threaten them: I said if Suporia got any offensive putbacks, we were running double line drills,” Boylan coach Kim Connell said.
Boylan trailed 47-39 before Edwards made a 3-pointer and Kierra Valentine (11 points) had a three-point play on a layup to give the Titans six points in 17 seconds and cut the gap to 47-45 with 2:47 to play.

“That got to us a little bit,” Shiffer said. “I looked at the scoreboard and thought, ‘Oh, my goodness. They are right back with us.’ ”

But the Titans couldn’t stay with the Pretzels. Not with the 5-foot-10 Kelsey Hoefer expanding her game and scoring most of her 18 second-half points on drives to the basket. She said she had to; Boylan center Maria Ludeke kept blocking her shots in the post. “So I had to get around her.”

And that’s how Freeport got around Boylan.

“What killed us in the end was Shiffer,” Connell said. “She just went on a tear and we couldn’t stop her.”

Dickens (12 points), Caitlin Greene (11) and Katie Norman (nine) gave Shiffer just enough help to hold off a Boylan team that passed its first big test, even if it lost when it shot 0-for-8 in overtime.

“It was great that we played a team that took second in the state and stayed neck-and-neck with them the whole game,” Edwards said.
“We were just trying to knock off the best,” Connell said. “We know right now Freeport is the best. But if Freeport is the best, we are near-best.”

Assistant sports editor Matt Trowbridge can be reached at 815-987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.