Hononegah drops the sectional final to Libertyville 51-35, ends the season 30-5

The Hononegah Indians girls basketball team accomplished so many things this season.

A 30-5 overall record.

Undefeated 18-0 in NIC 10 conference play

Continued and extended the 56-game NIC 10 winning streak

They reached the sectional semifinals and gave the fans and students so many incredible memories.

Tonight they ran into a Libertyville team that got the best of them.

In the opening quarter of the Feb. 22 game, Hononegah hit some early 3’s and got 7 of the first 17 points from senior Jordan Johnston to go up 17-10. A Libertyville run of 19-5 led to them having a 29-22 halftime lead. In the 19-5 Libertyville did a great job of making Hononegah play a little quicker then normal. It seemed like Hononegah was uncomfortable on both ends of the floor.

The 3rd quarter saw Libertyville freshman Lily Fischer and Kate Rule control  the perimeter and swing the ball to shooters and into the post for clean looks. Lily Fischer is the younger sister of last year's all-state performer Emily Fischer. Kate Rule had three first half fouls. The 2nd half defense intensity was turned up a few notches and caused Hononegah to miss a couple of layouts and uncharacteristically turned the ball over.

My count was Libertyville only had three turnovers after halftime while having nearly triple that amount in the opening half. It was the reverse for Hononegah - they tried to speed up but threw it to Libertyville instead of teammates.

With 1:33 left in the game, head coach Jason Brunke subbed  out  the seniors Olivia Robinson, Danielle Franz, Allyson Niedfeldt, Jordan Johnston and key sophomore Jordan Dimke for the final time as a team. The Hononegah Indian fans and parents rose to their feet and gave them a wonderful sendoff for a wonderful season and career.

When the final buzzer went off the the score was 51-35 Libertyville, who will now go home to take on Wilmette (Loyola Academy) in the 4A super-sectional on Monday, February 26, 2024.

Now the Hononegah Indians begin the process of either preparing for their next sport, next basketball  season, or the next part of their journey away from Hononegah. Whatever that looks like, I hope they have enjoyed this season as much as I have enjoyed covering it.

Thank you to Hononegah Girls Basketball on Twitter, Head Coach Jason Brunke, Athletic Director Andrew Walters, Andy Gannon, Jim Franz, Erik Nordquist,  Taylor Klikno, Kylie Simpson, Cadence Thurman, Olivia Robinson, Danielle Franz, Allyson Niedfeldt, Mikayla Mowers, Jordan Johnston, Natalie Harris, Lily Murdoch, Jordan Dimke, Brooklyn Klabacha and Isabella Pierson and for all the images and information for the stories this winter.