PONTIAC — Hillcrest coach John Maniatis is a pretty good motivator.
He also calls it like he sees it.
What he saw in the first half of Monday night’s Class 3A Pontiac Supersectional against Morton simply couldn’t be sugarcoated.
Halftime wasn’t pretty.
“I basically pleaded to our seniors that there were 16 minutes left,” he said. “I told them they had the choice whether they wanted to bag it up for the rest of the season, or step forward.”
Shannise Heady, Samirah Ali, Jasmine Sanders and Jamiah Phillips stepped forward.
A giant step forward.
“It was a win-it-all situation and we wanted to win,” Heady said after a 48-39 victory advanced the No. 2 Hawks to Friday’s Class 3A state semifinals and a showdown against Montini.
Heady, with no points at intermission, roared to life in the second half to finish with a team-high 12 points. She added nine rebounds. Phillips (9 points), Dana Gettis (9 points), Mariam Awoniyi (8 points, 12 rebounds) and Ali (7 points) were other leaders for Hillcrest (27-3).
Morton (31-3) was led by Cortney Allebaugh and Kate Byrne with 13 points each.
The Hawks couldn’t have been more frustrated after two periods. They shot 6-of-29 from the field, 0-of-4 from the free-throw line and had committed eight fouls to Morton’s three.
Heady, who had two fouls early, had to back off defensively. Down 20-13 going into the third period, they were able to make a 2-3 zone work effectively against Morton’s patient offense.
At the other end, they fast-broke and finished. Heady was the first to convert with a driving layup, setting in motion a series of seven consecutive possessions in which the Hawks scored. By the end of the third period it was 29-24 Hillcrest.
“We didn’t want to go home. It wasn’t our time to go home,” Ali said. “Earlier we had a hard time getting to the basket. But I wasn’t worried (at halftime). I had faith in my team.”
Sanders hit a key three-pointer during the third-period outburst. Phillips, who was being dominated by Morton’s big players earlier, had a big fourth quarter with two buckets, one a huge putback after her own missed free throw.
“I couldn’t let down the other seniors on the team and the coaches,” Phillips said. “There are 32 minutes in a game, and you’ve got to play hard.”
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