The Eastview girls’ basketball team lost its only game this season to Bloomington Kennedy, setting up the desired Class 4A state tournament championship game.

Neither team disappointed Saturday at Williams Arena. Kennedy, hungry to avenge last season’s runner-up finish, led for 35 of 36 minutes. Top-ranked Eastview used those final 60 seconds to put the final touches on a special season.

The dogged Lightning overtook No. 2 seed Kennedy 64-61 at the wire, capturing its first-ever girls’ basketball state championship after runner-up finishes in 2000 and 2003.

Trailing 61-54 with 2 minutes and 30 seconds to play, Eastview (31-1) closed on a 10-0 run.

“From the beginning of the season we’ve known where we wanted to be so it feels good that we got here,” senior guard Emee Udo said. “It wasn’t easy but no one ever gave up. We weren’t going to stop until we got it.”

Udo embodied her team’s toughness in the second half. She scored all six of her points after halftime and ignited the game’s definitive run with four consecutive points.

Two free throws by teammate Hana Metoxen cut the lead to 61-60. Then Kennedy turned the ball over on an inbounds pass and Eastview made the Eagles (25-7) pay. Madison Guebert’s driving layup gave Eastview a 62-61 lead, its first advantage of the game.

Kenisha Bell, the Eagles’ star guard, could not get her layup to fall. Forced to foul, the Eagles watched as Kari Opatz drained her free throws for a 64-61 lead with 18.2 seconds remaining.

“The thing we’ve said all year is that these kids truly never quit – ever,” Eastview coach Melissa Guebert said. “If you keep working, things can change.”

Leading 37-32 at halftime thanks to a combined 26 points from Bell and Tonoia Wade, Kennedy rode less heralded players in the second half. 

Senior forward Isieoma Odor got the hot hand, scoring nine consecutive points and later adding a pair of free throws to put her team ahead 57-45.
However, Melissa Guebert said she looked into confident faces anytime she addressed her team. Madison Guebert, her daughter, said players’ no-panic approach was genuine.

“I definitely think we all believed the whole time that we were in this,” said Madison Guebert, who scored a game-high 29 points. “We are very confident in our abilities as a team.”

Said Udo: “There was a point where we realized we needed to dig in and that came in the second half.”

The Lightning’s jubilation contrasted with Kennedy’s disappointment. Blown out by Hopkins a year ago, players felt greater pain losing their grip so close to the end.

“It's going to hurt for a while I can tell you that,” Eagles’ coach Quintin Johnson said. “We came out of the toughest section and toughest conference, bur that's a hard way to end. It's difficult to tell these girls that that's the way the season ends."

Eastview defeated Kennedy 65-54 in their first meeting on Jan. 16. The rematch on Feb. 14 saw Bloomington Kennedy win 73-60.


Photo gallery: Eastview comes from behind to defeat Bloomington Kennedy