The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Eagles faced much more adversity in the State Championship game, than they did in their first two matchups of their State Tourney. In both of those matchups the Eagles were able to jump out to early leads and build double digits by the end of the third quarter vs Cissna Park, and from the mid 1st quarter on against Normal Epiphany.
That was not the case in the Championship game, as the Carrollton St. John Lady Redbirds came out with a ferocious defensive effort led by Reese McMurtrie and company stymied the Eagles in the early going.
The early backcourt extra pressure frustrated their 6th grader PG Aly Wibbell who was hesitant to push past the pressure, attempting long cross court passes that resulted in turnovers.
After a handful of turnovers, the Lady Redbirds raced to an 11-2 lead.
Nerves and tension had risen high in the arena, and head coach Dave Clover said he probably wasn’t a calming presence and he relied on assistant coach Jacki Wibbell who told the girls they all needed to relax and just play their game.
Something clicked, and the Eagles finished the first quarter with a nice floater by Aly Wibbell just inside the free throw line basket followed by a Journey Miller lob to Kinley Thompson for a buzzer beater on the weakside of the lane for a 11-6 Redbird lead going into the 2nd quarter.
Miller, working in the high post, again found Thompson in the low block for another inside bucket to narrow the score to 11-8.
On the following possession a Thompson steal led to Aly Wibbell driving down the court and hitting her fellow 6th grader cousin open Maci Wibbell in the left corner for a mid range bucket to pull the Eagles within 1 point at 11-10.
After trading baskets, Alex Miller fed Journey Miller inside for a basket to give the Eagles a 14-13 lead midway through the 2nd quarter.
A Journey Miller freethrow followed by Alex Miller score inside for the Eagles and a Rylee York answer gave us a 17-15 Eagle lead at the half.
Three quick buckets by Journey Miller, and a steal by Aly Wibbell that she took coast to coast for a layup with 2 seconds left, built the Eagles a 6 point lead by the end of the 3rd quarter. Alyssa Marsden fed Journey in the post on a long pass to give the Eagles an 8 point lead to start the 4th quarter.
La Harpe/Dallas City continued to build momentum getting up 31-19 following a mid range floater by Aly Wibbell. A flurry of outside shot attempts by McMurtrie landed them a 3 pointer to cut the Eagle lead to 31-24.
The Redbirds were left to foul their way into getting possessions back to trim the lead, and an Alex Miller free throw with under 20 seconds to go, gave the Eagles an 8 point lead and the Eagles were able to stall by dribbling the ball to finish the game.
With the 32-24 win, the La Harpe/Dallas City Eagles claimed their first State Championship in their girls basketball program history!
Journey Miller led all scorers with 15 points and also grabbed a whopping 13 rebounds.
Aly Wibbell and Kinley Thompson each chipped in 6 points, Alex Miller scored 3 points with Maci Wibbell chipping in 2.
Emotions filled the court as players, coaches and fans hugged and celebrated for nearly an hour following the game.
The team was able to enjoy the victory after feeling the weight lifted from their shoulders after a hard fought State Championship win.
If there had been a MVP trophy awarded at State, it certainly would have gone to Journey Miller who scored 40 points in the Eagles three games. Reese McMurtrie also had a big tournament for the runner up Redbirds, and finished with 36 over her three games including 9 in the championship game to lead her team.
The team bus was again met by a police and fire department escort as the came into La Harpe at 1:00 am as dozens of fans lined Main Street and cheered. So much excitement and joy was brought from this team to their communities, and on Sunday, the team was given a parade ride on a Fire truck through La Harpe followed by a celebration at La Harpe elementary.
Coaches shared with the team, fans, and support people, heart felt messages.
La Harpe/Dallas City will work to defend their State Championship in 2025. Their season opening game next year will be September 29th against the Liberty Eagles who finished 3rd in 7-1A.