Photo by Aidan McGuire
Sophomore guard/forward Aden Edebali lines up a shot in Tuesday’s game against Morton College.
By Aidan McGuire, News Editor
A blowout loss. A redemption win. A record surpassed. The final week of the season for the Moraine Valley women’s basketball team had it all.
On Tuesday, the Cyclones lost 100-57 at home against Morton College as they struggled to maintain control of the ball. Two days later, they fought hard to reclaim their name in a win against long-time rival Prairie State, 76-68 in their final Skyway Conference game of the season.
Starting off strong against Prairie State, the Cyclones took a significant lead, 20-2, and were still holding at halftime, 42-33. Despite the Pioneers catching up and keeping Moraine on their toes, the team worked together to control the ball and displayed teamwork.
Reagan Cameron scored a three-pointer in the second half, ending up with a total of 30 points in the game. Over the last two games of the season, Cameron scored nine three-pointers. She had a goal to surpass the school’s record of 81 three-pointers in a season. She beat it by three, scoring 84.
The Cyclones struggle to maintain control of the ball against Morton.
Earlier in the week, the team faced Morton College under not ideal circumstances. Forwards Autumn Jones and Jayla Lamb—two of the team’s best rebounders, according to Head Coach Delwyn Jones—were both missing Tuesday, which created ball control issues for the team.
“Thirty-three turnovers,” Jones said. “That can’t win a basketball game. And we gave up 21 offensive rebounds.”
With the rebound and turnover mishaps alone, the team gave Morton College a potential 162 points.
“We just gave them the ball,” Jones said. “They weren’t taking it. We just gave it to them.”
At halftime, Morton College already had a significant leg up on the Cyclones, 49-25. The Cyclones fought hard in the second half, but were outmatched 100-57.
Despite the staggering gap, there were still some highlights for the Cyclones. Andrea Robertson finished the game with 19 rebounds.
“She did a great job and we are very proud of her,” Jones said.
Despite Tuesday’s loss, after the game, Jones said he was proud of all the players.
“We made bad decisions tonight,” he said. “We played with a frantic pace that wasn’t to our benefit, and we didn’t do the things we were supposed to do tonight, but no one can question the integrity of these women.
“We have a great group of young women. We just do and there’s never a question about that.”
