BY CHRISTOPHER BREACH

GIRLS BASKETBALL

CRETE | It had been a long time since Crete-Monee brought home a regional trophy in girls basketball -- 26 years to be exact.

Yet, the underdog Warriors (17-10) pulled off the upset with a thrilling 57-47 victory over No. 1 seed Hillcrest on Friday. The win puts Crete-Monee in Monday's sectional at Hillcrest.

"A lot of people thought we were going to get beat," first-year Crete-Monee coach Mike Pope said. "I would've thought that, too, if I didn't know my team. Our defense won it for us tonight."

The Warriors' Magnificent Seven used a balanced attack with four players in double figures, led by Kristina Smith's 14 points and nine boards. Natalie Morgan added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Loretta Burton had 12 markers and Tracea Smith 11.

"It feels great," Kristina Smith said. "All our hard work and effort paid off. It wasn't easy."

The Warriors withstood the Hawks' pressure defense at the beginning, which found them down 7-0, but a 10-0 run put them back in it. Crete took a 21-18 halftime lead and never trailed the rest of the way.

"The one thing we had on them was experience," Pope said. "Their two guards were a freshman and a sophomore."

Hillcrest did tie it at 43-43 with 3:14 left in the game, but a 6-0 run by Crete helped seal the elusive regional title.

"We didn't think about it. We didn't look at the score," Burton said. "It was just playing and having fun."

Uniquah Hampton topped Hillcrest with a game-high 25 points.

"I'm new here, but we haven't been good here for a long time," Pope said.

"We talked about the whole season how it takes heart to play the game, and we showed that tonight," Kristina Smith said.

"We just made history," Burton said.

Class 3A Crete-Monee Regional
Crete-Monee 57, Hillcrest 47
Kristina Smith had 14 points and nine rebounds.