Girls basketball: Poston paves way for Hanover

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Updated: March 13, 2012 10:40AM

WHEATFIELD — Blayr Poston plays like a poised veteran, a true leader. And Saturday night, the junior carried Hanover Central to a semifinal win over host Kankakee Valley, 47-42, and into the Class 3A KV Sectional championship game.

There is no question the Wildcats are a true team, and their rebounding effort and hustle shut down the taller Kougars when they had it.

And with the game on the line and Kankakee Valley down by one in the fourth quarter, Poston and her team were cool under the intense pressure.

“It seemed like Poston kept that lead whenever we were able to get close,” said Kankakee Valley coach Ryan Myers.

“Blayr did a good job of taking care of the basketball,” said Wildcats coach Doug Nelson, who watched his point guard score 28 points, add six steals and a key late block, along with making 12 of 14 free throws.

“When the game gets really close, my team depends on me,” said Poston. “I try to stay under control. We really played well late in the game.

“We’ve lost leads late in the games several times this year, and we’ve really worked on that,” said Nelson.

Poston agreed: “We’ve learned from our mistakes.”

Rebounding was a key to the game, with the taller Kougars usually able to beat teams with a rebounding edge.

But in the semifinal, Kankakee Valley outrebounded Hanover by three.

“Hanover Central had some timely rebounds,” Myers said.

“We talked to the girls about getting them to box out,” said Poston about her team’s inside game. “We wanted Kankakee Valley to go over our backs, and to get the calls. We knew that we had to do that to win. We had to get to the free-throw line.”

And Hanover did that, and the team responded, hitting 18 of 22 free throws, while the Kougars converted on just 12 of 28.

Katie Dominguez scored nine points, all on 3-pointers, and Nelson credited her two early treys to a key element of getting his team an early lead, which they built to 15-7 and 24-13 first-half advantages.

“We just didn’t come out ready to start that game,” said Myers.

The Kougars were led by sophomore Ashley Norberg, who was a big factor late, with 11 points, and senior Hailey Ruesken also had 11 points, and added seven rebounds.

KV ends the season at 12-10, Hanover Central moves on to the sectional final with Knox at 13-7.