TROY, Ill. – The Triad Knights had a chance to win their third regional title in program history Thursday night, and they had the chance to do it on their home court.
The No. 2-seeded Knights hosted No. 3-seed Effingham in a Class 3A regional final and came up short by a score of 50-38.
It was an off night offensively for the Knights, a team that relies heavily upon the three-point shot, went 4-of-33 on the night from deep.
“We played really hard,” Triad head coach Josh Hunt said. “Just offensively, against really, really good teams, there are times where we struggle to score and that kind of reared its ugly head tonight until obviously, we played with a sense of desperation.”
Triad jumped out to a 7-5 lead early on but a 10-0 run from the Flaming Hearts to close the first quarter and open the second saw them take a 15-7 lead.
The Knights answered with five free throws, two from Erica Boyce and Makenna Witham and one from Delaney Hess to make it 15-12, but another Effingham basket made it 17-12 at halftime.
At the halfway point, one of Triad’s leading scorers, Boyce, had already picked up three personal fouls. She was the team’s top scorer in the regional semifinal against Salem where she put in a career-high 23 points.
She was on and off the floor throughout the third quarter until she picked up her fourth foul with five minutes left in the frame. Meanwhile, Effingham opened the second half on a six-point run to expand the lead to 23-12, forcing the Knights into a quick timeout.
After Boyce’s fourth foul, the Hearts went on a five-point run to make it 28-14, the widest margin of the game.
“She affects us big time because she’s one of our more dynamic shooters,” Hunt said of Boyce, “and obviously when she’s not on the floor, we’re hurting offensively.”
Boyce would finish with eight points. Witham led Triad with 13 points and Savannah Hildebrand had eight. All three were held lower than their per-game averages.
“They did a really good job on [Hildebrand],” Hunt said. “They really focused on her, and a lot of teams will. To her credit though she kept fighting and didn’t let it affect her.”
Hildebrand scored all nine of her points in the second half.
Effingham would maintain a 33-23 lead after three quarters before the Knights made it interesting.
They used a seven-point run to make it a one-possession game at 40-38 with 1:50 left in the game, but the comeback came short as the Hearts shot bonus free throws and closed the game on a 10-0 run, eight of which points came from the line.
Hunt was pleased with his team defensively as they made things difficult for the Hearts. Effingham turned the ball over 23 times, but Triad couldn’t turn those extra possessions into baskets.
“Anytime you go 4-of-33 from three-point range it’s going to be a rough night,” Hunt said. “We rely so heavily on that. There were a lot of shots that I liked us taking, we just missed them, and unfortunately, that’s the story of basketball.”
Triad’s season closes with a 23-9 record, their best mark under Hunt since the 2021-22 season in which the Knights went 21-10 and won a regional title. Triad’s first and only other regional title was in the 1983-84 season.
Effingham was led by Sidney Donaldson with 17 points. Bella Austin added 14 and Alyssa Martin had 10. The Hearts improved to 25-7 and advanced to the Bethalto (Civic Memorial) Sectional semifinals where they await the winner between top-seeded Mt. Vernon (26-3) and fourth-seeded Carbondale (19-13).
