Junior forward Hallie Crane knew she had to be ready Tuesday night for Batavia, so she did the best thing she could think of to prepare.
She went shooting with star guard Brooke Carlson.
“I think it really helped,” Crane said. “It just fueled me.”
And when St. Charles East made a concerted effort to try to slow down the Colorado State-bound Carlson, it was Crane who stepped up in the Class 4A Batavia Sectional semifinal.
She hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a dominant third quarter to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 12. That was all they needed to separate for a 63-51 victory, setting up a rematch with rival Geneva.
Crane, who missed last season with a knee injury, finished with a career-high 15 points for Batavia (28-5). Carlson led all scorers with 21 points, including going 13 of 13 from the free-throw line.
Kylee Gehrt added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who play at 6 p.m. Thursday for the sectional title. Carmen Aguilera, Lexi DiOrio and Addie Schilb each scored 12 points for St. Charles East (19-13).
Crane waited a long time for her moment to shine, and she didn’t shy away from it.
“That was just amazing for me,” Crane said. “I was very excited about it. I think it’s very important when we pass to each other and we work.
“Brooke is our best player, but when she gets shut down, I think it’s important that some of us are able to step up.”
Carlson, who’s averaging 22 points, doesn’t get shut down very often. She tends to find a way to produce her points on a nightly basis. That made Crane’s breakout game all the more impressive.
“We practice her getting doubled and teams using a box-and-one,” Crane said. “And we figure out ways to work around it.”
St. Charles East coach Katie Claussner was well aware of the Carlson factor for Batavia.
That’s why Claussner designed the game plan the way she did — and for the most part it worked. Only eight points for Carlson, who shot 4 of 10, came from the field.
“We executed the game plan,” Claussner said. “If we can take (Carlson) out of it, that will give us the best chance to win.
“We said before the game, someone was going to have to step up and beat us. Unfortunately, that’s what they did.”
Considering everything Crane has gone through to get back to full strength, Batavia coach Kevin Jensen was happy to see her enjoy a big moment.
“She’s a dynamic player,” Jensen said. “That was a huge piece we missed last year with her missing with the knee injury. All the different things she can do, she’s a special player.
“We knew they were going to do a great job of having two or three people in the lane to wait for Brooke. Last week, it was Natalie (Warner) hitting three threes in the second half. (Tuesday) it was Hallie. Hallie has that capability.”
St. Charles East, meanwhile, experienced a quick turnaround in Claussner’s first season.
“This season could have gone one of many ways,” Claussner said. “They could have easily denied everything I wanted to do. Instead, they embraced me and all the changes we wanted to make.
“We’re doing great things here.”
Batavia hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter, two from Crane and one apiece from Gehrt and Addi Lowe. The Bulldogs also held the Saints to four points in that span.
It’s defense that has Jensen confident for Thursday’s game.
“It’s the same thing you hear colleges say come NCAA Tournament time,” Jensen said. “Defense travels.
“You can have an off night shooting or something not go great here or there, but if we can rely on our defense, it should take us a ways.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
