Byron plays a 2OT classic with 3 buzzer beaters; Rockford girls basketball playoff roundup

Byron has won two state titles under coach Eric Yerly. The Tigers finished second in the state in Class 2A just last year. But they have never won a game like this.

They still haven’t. In a game that looked lost, then won, then lost and won again, a super-young Byron team finally lost Friday to Woodstock Marian 73-68 in double overtime in the Rockford Christian Regional finals.

“The ball just bounced their way after the first overtime or we would be celebrating a win,” Yerly said.

The game went from good to an instant classic in the last second of regulation. Macy Groharing (27 points) was cut off trying to drive the baseline. With Yerly frantically trying to call timeout, Groharing passed to Malia Morton (19 points), who laid the ball in a half-second after the buzzer sounded.

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It was clearly too late, but the officials were counting the basket — until they huddled and gave Yerly his timeout instead with one second left. Karsyn Bielskis — a junior who is Byron’s oldest starter — lobbed a perfect inbounds pass to Morton, who scored again, this time on a falling, 12-foot bank shot at the buzzer to send Byron (21-8) into overtime.

Groharing scored eight points in that four-minute OT session to give Byron a 63-60 lead. She also blocked a 3-point shot by Adriana Wrzos in the waning seconds. But the ball deflected to Juliette Huff (21 points). Huff, the only Marian player to make a 3-pointer all night, heaved in her third 3 as the buzzer went off to force a second OT.

“We were right there,” Yerly said. The ball just happened to bounce into the hands of their best 3-point shooter. I give her credit to hit a shot like that after a scramble for the ball. I don’t think she was even looking at the rim when she shot.

“That was the game right there.”

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Not quite. Not yet. Groharing’s toughest shot of the night — a falling, 12-foot one-hander in the lane — put Byron ahead 68-67 with a minute left. Woodstock Marian (27-4) had been killing Byron on second-chance shots much of the second half. This time, Byron finally had good position, but a Marian player leaped over her back on a missed shot and got the ball back when it went out of bounds. That led to a tying free throw. After that, Marian took the lead on another offensive rebound — after another blocked shot by Groharing — when Abby Miner grabbed the loose ball and laid it in.

And it still wasn’t over until Brynn Green’s attempted tying 3-pointer spun out of the rim with a second left.

“I got the ball and I knew what I had to do,” Huff said of saving Marian’s season — and helping end Byron’s. “We needed three points, so I got the 3-point shot up. Our team is really good at rebounding and that gives us a lot of second-chance points. We are all skilled in that way.”

In other local regional final games Friday:

Stillman Valley 53, Aurora Catholic 48

Taylor Davidson scored 30 points and made all nine of her free throws to lead top-seeded Stillman Valley (29-4) in the Genoa-Kingston Regional. Mya Janssen and Amelia Dunseth added nine points each for the Cardinals, who trailed by 10 with a minute and a half left in the second quarter. They cut the deficit to six at halftime and led by two after three quarters.

"The girls continue to fight through and show resilience no matter what," coach Bobby Mellon said. "In the second half, Mya came alive. She had some really big baskets in the third quarter."

Riley Cwinski led Aurora with 20 points.

Stillman advances to play No. 2 seed Port Byron Riverdale on Tuesday in the 2A Oregon Sectional.

CLASS 1A

River Ridge/Scales Mound 48, Eastland 39

Olivia Klinefelter had 12 points, five rebounds and two steals for Eastland (19-13), but it wasn't enough for the NUIC South champs. No one else scored more than eight points, while Ava Wiederholt and Addison Albrecht scored 12 points head for RR/SM (25-7), which advances to play No. 1 state-ranked Galena.

CLASS 3A

Dixon 52, Boylan 44

Alayna Petalber scored 15 points to lead Boylan, which finished 25-7. Lily Esparza added 14 and Kaylee Harter 13, but Boylan could not stop Dixon (25-6) when it mattered in the Rochelle Regional final. "We were battling from behind most of the game," Boylan coach Aaron Westlund said. "It was close throughout. We just could never get over the hump."

Sycamore 68, Belvidere 38

Sycamore ended Belvidere's best season in 18 years. The Bucs (17-15) had their first winning season since they were 13-12 in 2006 and junior guard Emma Pierson broke Belvidere legend Amanda Levens' season scoring record in the regional semifinals, finishing with over 700 points on the season.

Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Byron, Woodstock Marian play wild, wild 2 OT classic in regional final