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Sports

Extra Points: Marian Catholic Benches Homewood-Flossmoor

Spartans get huge contributions from their role players to run past Vikings.

Marian Catholic didn't receive much of a challenge in its first two post-season games, winning 95-34 and 72-41.

During Monday's contest against Homewood-Flossmoor in the the Class 4A Lincoln-Way North Sectional, the Spartans didn't have nearly as easy of a time in a 72-58 girls basketball victory.

Perhaps if it were not for their bench, the Spartans would be looking back on what could have been, rather than focusing on Marist, their opponent in Thursday's sectional title game.

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"We've been starting the same five all year, but it's been our bench that's been important," Marian Catholic coach Annie Basic-Byrne said. "We depend on our sixth, seventh and eighth man so much and they know that and accept that responsibility."

Starting point guard Jamie Johnson picked up her third foul with 3:38 remaining in the second quarter and the Spartans only ahead 26-25. It could've been panic time, but freshman Brianna Morrison stepped in and performed as if playing in a sectional was nothing new to her. Morrison would handle Homewood-Flossmoor's defensive pressure and would even toss in a couple buckets, including a putback with 9 seconds left in the third quarter that put the Spartans ahead 50-43 and concluded a 13-2 run to end the quarter.

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"She started the second half for me, is only a freshman, played big minutes and wasn't scared at all," Johnson said. "We didn't miss a beat with her in there."

Then, there was junior Sarafina Handy. She drilled a three-pointer to put the Spartans ahead 29-26 late in the second quarter and finished with 11 points, matching starter Jasmine Matthews for second-best on the squad.

"Sarafina was huge," Basic-Byrne said. "She came off the bench and hit a couple of baseline shots. They were playing that zone so high and trying to take away Simone (Law) from the high post, so right behind was open."

Handy said being asked to produce is nothing knew to those who are asked to come off the bench.

"Sometimes some of the big names (on the team), they get in trouble and we're here to help them out," Handy said. "Coach always says how important our role is off the bench, and we just come in and do the best we can. We may not be the top scorers, but we contribute as much as we can defensively and on offense."

As well as rebounding. Junior forward Amber Wiliams came off the bench and snagged seven rebounds to help the Spartans prevail.

"She's tough," Basic-Byrne said. "She's been a huge spark for us all year offensively and defensively and is so consistent. She is so long and lanky and her athletic moves suit her body well and can cause some mismatches for us."

Not So Fast: The officials met at the scorer's table for approximately five minutes early in the fourth quarter when there was some confusion over the score of the game. The scoreboard had Marian Catholic only leading 50-47 after a pair of free throws from the Vikings' Amena Brent. Ultimately, the score was correctly adjusted to 50-45.

The Best Play: The Vikings turned an 8-5 deficit to a 10-8 lead during a seven-second span in the first quarter. Charnelle Reed swished a three-pointer and then the Homewood-Flossmoor press forced a turnover which Lauren Parker turned into an easy layup.

Hot Links: Miss something? Check out "Girls Basketball: H-F Fought the Law and Law's Team Won" http://patch.com/A-fq3b 

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