Morris, Minooka and Joliet Central enjoy success at Morris Ladies Shootout – Shaw Local

MORRIS – Two Herald-News area girls basketball teams with new coaches had a great performance Tuesday and Wednesday at the Morris Ladies Shootout.

Morris, coached by former Joliet Central head boys coach Mike Lutz, and Minooka, coached by former Joliet West head girls coach John Placher, reached the semifinals of the 21-team event. Morris was defeated by Kankakee in the semifinals, and Minooka fell to Pleasant Plains in the other semifinal.

Overall, however, both coaches felt their teams had made positive steps.

“We are still trying to determine our identity,” Lutz said. “We have made great strides this summer. We went 14-2 this summer. I’ll definitely take that into account. And we played without one of our starters in this shootout.”

Morris started Tuesday’s pool play with a 29-21 victory over La Salle-Peru, then defeated Plainfield North 30-21 and Bloomington Central Catholic 25-24 before dropping a 25-21 decision to Pleasant Plains. In Wednesday’s bracket play, Morris defeated Andrew and Joliet Central before falling 37-35 to Kankakee in the semifinals after trailing 30-9 at halftime.

Minooka, meanwhile, went 2-1 in pool play Tuesday, beating Wilmington 46-19 and Plainfield South 59-45 before losing a 45-40 decision to Ottawa. The Indians took the top seed from their pool due to points differential and defeated Metamora and Rock Island Alleman in the championship round on Wednesday before losing to Pleasant Plains.

“We have a nice group of core kids coming back from last year’s team,” Placher said. “And we have some good JV players coming up.

“This is my first year with them, so we spent most of this summer getting to know each other. We want to put everyone in the best position to succeed, and we’re glad we can do that. We feel like we have the ingredients to be successful. We also had a great youth camp with very good grades, and that only benefits the program.”

Joliet Central went 3-0 in pool play on Tuesday, beating Hinsdale South 34-32, Coal City 31-23 and Kankakee 38-36 before falling to Morris in the opening round of bracket play on Wednesday, which was shortened due to the heat.

“We had a great summer,” Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel said. “We have good numbers on the program and we had a very nice youth camp.

“We have some important players back this year, and they are still young. The more they play, the better they will become. On our first day here we won 3-0 and you can’t do better than that.”

Ottawa finished in fourth place after losing the third-place match 34-30 to Plainfield North. On Tuesday, the Pirates lost to Plainfield South 60-46 and Minooka 45-40 before defeating Wilmington 43-33. They then defeated Kaneland in the semifinals before falling to Plainfield North in the finals.

“We had a good summer,” Ottawa coach Brent Moore said. “We have been very busy. We host our own league on Mondays and Wednesdays at Kingman Gym with about 7-8 local teams and we went to shootouts at Illinois Wesleyan and Lewis before coming to this one.

“We also went to a Chicago Sky game and got to play on their floor against Geneseo before we saw the Sky play. That was a great experience to strengthen team bonding.”

Moore also said standout Marlie Olandi will return to the team soon.

“She will be cleared to play by her doctor on June 27,” Moore said. “We are organizing a summer jam on the 28th, but we are not sure how much Marlie will play. However, by the time the season starts, she will be more than ready to go.”

Score Tuesday’s group matches

Minooka 46, Wilmington 19; Plainfield South 60, Ottawa 46; Ottawa 45, Minooka 40; Plainfield South 56, Wilmington 30; Minooka 59, Plainfield South 45; Ottawa 43, Wilmington 33; Kankakee 34, Coaltown 16; Joliet Central 34, Hinsdale South 32; Joliet Central 31, Coal City 23; Kankakee 38, Hinsdale South 28; Joliet Central 38, Kankakee 36; Hinsdale South 44, Coal City 29; Metamora 41, Wheaton St. Francis 37; Rock Island Alleman 61, Oswego 37; St. Francis 58, Oswego 54; Alleman 49, Metamora 47; Alleman 62, St. Franciscus 44; Metamora 61, Oswego 44; Andrew 36, Kaneland 34; Downers Grove South 40, Plainfield Central 29; Downers Grove South 48, Andrew 37; Kaneland 35, Plainfield Central 33; Downers Grove South 45, Kaneland 31; Andrew 59, Plainfield Central 28; Morris 29, La Salle-Peru 21; Bloomington Central Catholic 27, Pleasant Plains 16; Morris 30, Plainfield North 21; Pleasant Plains 34, Bloomington CC 30; Morris 25, Bloomington CC 24; Pleasant Plains 35, La Salle-Peru 22; Pleasant Plains 25, Morris 21; Plainfield North 41, La Salle-Peru 19; Bloomington CC 48, La Salle-Peru 29.