As the final minute of regulation ticked down, Minooka’s Makenzie Brass stepped back on Plainfield North’s Sophia Charbonneau to drill a three in her face to complete a fourth quarter comeback.

With the game tied up 45-45, Minooka and Plainfield North would both have a defensive final minute to send the game to overtime at an identical score.

“It was very exciting because we had just come back, so we knew all our effort in the 4th quarter paid off,” senior Emma Oyola said.

Three and D was the narrative throughout the game for the Indians. With 24 of their points coming from deep on an efficient 40% and they held the Tigers to their lowest scoring four quarters of conference play this season.

“In this game in particular we really shot the 3 well,” head coach Jeffrey Easthon. “If we do that every night, we win most of the time.”

In overtime, Plainfield North’s offense would find a way to tear apart Minooka’s defense, scoring 9 points in the first 3 minutes. 

“We need to get better at staying focused and level-headed for 32 minutes every night,” Easthon said. “We go through short runs of sloppy play.”

But despite the huge flip in momentum the atmosphere throughout overtime still matched it for the entire game. With Plainfield North having their senior night and the rivalry of a conference matchup the whole gymnasium was lively for the full 36 minutes.

“Everybody brought a lot of energy, the bench was hype,” Brass said. “The boy’s basketball team was hype on the sideline.”

Throughout the game, Oyola and freshman Madelyn Kiper were key contributors for the squad. Kiper hit the double-digit points mark with 11 while also snagging 6 rebounds. 

Oyola impacted the team greatly by simply just being on the court with them having a +13 differently while she was, she also put up 5 points and got 5 rebounds. 

The overall standout player in the game was Brass who posted 21 points on an efficient 41% from the field while also grabbing 9 boards.

“I feel like my performance in the game against Plainfield North was one of my better games this season,” Brass said. “I had a good run in the first quarter and then towards the second quarter I kind of slowed it down but then I picked it up at the end. I was getting a lot of rebounds but I also could have picked it up on the defensive end.”

Down by 6 in the final minute of overtime, Kiper knocked down a three from the corner on an assist by senior Kylie Loomis with the team hoping for a kickstart to another comeback. But this time they fell short, concluding the game 56-51. 

Though despite their loss the game can be seen as a morale booster with a close game against the conference champs that included many bright spots for a team that has found little success as of late. 

“It was good for us to know we could hang with them,” Oyola said. 

The Minooka girls varsity basketball team will conclude their regular season tomorrow, Feb. 7, at Yorkville at 6:30 p.m. Then on Valentine’s Day they’re set to face off against Pekin at Normal Community at 7:30 p.m for the first round of Regionals.