By Mike Clark
Nila Wills wanted to be more involved in Phillips’ offense, and coach Larry Stokes had a solution.
“She started complaining about not getting the ball,” Stokes said. “I said, ‘Relax, it’s coming.’ I said, ‘We don’t have to run a play for you. You can get any rebound you want, stop watching.’
“And that’s what happened.”
Indeed: Wills had a double-double of 14 points and 18 rebounds — along with three blocks — as the Wildcats held off IC Catholic 62-59 Thursday night to win the Class 2A Julian Sectional.
Nakiyah Williams had 21 points and six rebounds for Phillips (19-13), LaKeeyah Barnes scored 13 and Kamaria Sephus finished with 12 points.
It’s the second sectional title in program history, and first since 2013, for the Wildcats.
They play Regina Dominican (24-9) at 7 p.m. Monday in the Morton College Supersectional with a berth in the Class 2A Final Four on the line.
It’s a nice finishing sprint for Phillips.
“Our season’s been up and down,” Stokes said. “The goal was to make it past the Final Four and win city. We didn’t do that. But to get here, and to put us a step closer to going downstate, that’s one of our goals. These ladies did a great job.”
It helped that the Wildcats might have played the toughest schedule of any Class 2A team in the state, starting with the season opener against still-unbeaten 4A power Loyola. Games against Kenwood, Young, Butler, Warren, New Trier and Stevenson, among others, have Phillips ready for anything it’ll face in 2A.
“The top teams we play, the defense has to be strong,” Wills said.
Williams, a junior who transferred to Phillips after two years at Orr, agreed.
“I’m ready to play competitive teams, I’m ready to step up,” Williams said.
Phillips never trailed against IC Catholic (24-10) and led for all but eight seconds after the opening minutes. But thanks to a big game from 5-11 senior Allie Geiger (25 points, 16 rebounds), the Knights kept it close the whole way.
Geiger’s driving basket with 21 seconds left cut the deficit to 60-59, but Barnes made two free throws with 13.2 seconds left and the Wildcats held on for the win.
Stokes expected IC Catholic’s defense would focus on stopping Sephus. That opened the door for Williams.
“I had to take what they gave me,” she said. “They told me to go left, I went left. Most of the games, I haven’t been attacking, I haven’t been playing my best game.
“But I stepped up today and I did whatever I could do to help my team win.”
“This is her first breakout game,” Stokes said of Williams. “We knew that they (were) going to play tight on Kamaria Sephus, our shooter, and LaKeeyah Barnes, they were going to play tight (on). I told (Williams), we’ve got to create a monster. It was her night.”
