Sandburg women rout Madison, will play Black Hawk in Saturday’s Region 4 semis

GALESBURG — The Sandburg women's basketball team finished the first half with a flurry as the host Chargers routed Madison 76-47 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Region 4 Division II District A tournament.

KEY MOMENT
Tied at 19 with 7:20 left in the second quarter, the No. 5 seed Chargers (22-9) closed the half with a 26-2 burst. Tyriunna Steele kicked off the stretch with a 3-pointer at 6:55 as Sandburg scored 12 straight points. After a bucket by the 12th-seeded WolfPack with 2:40 left, the Chargers scored the last 14 points of the half. Freshman Antonia Kisler had seven points during the run, and Sandburg also got buckets from Layni Dobbins, Tiera Hall and an Ashley Brach 3-pointer.

SANDBURG STANDOUT
Coming off the bench, Steele turned in perhaps her best performance of the season. The freshman from Louisville, Miss., scored 12 points on the strength of four 3-pointers. Steele finished 4 of 8 from long distance while also collecting seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Steele was two points shy of matching her season-high (set Feb. 11 at Illinois Valley), and her rebound and assist totals were her most in a game this season.

OTHER TOP CHARGERS
• Kisler: 19 points, 7-17 FG, 8 rebounds
• Pieper: 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6-12 FG
• Gabbie Vontz: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals
• Dobbins: 11 points, 3-10 3FG

FOR THE WOLFPACK
• Keelyn Zwirschitz: 23 points, 8 rebounds
• Dani Latz: 13 points, 7 rebounds

SEMIFINAL SATURDAY
The Chargers advance to face No. 4 seed Black Hawk in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday at Rock Valley in Rockford. The game will be streamed here. Sandburg split its two regular-season matchups with the Braves, with each team winning on its home floor. The Chargers won 85-69 on Jan. 21, while Black Hawk earned an 85-50 victory Feb. 13 in Moline. The championship game is set for noon March 8 at Rock Valley against the winner of Saturday's first semifinal between No. 1 Rock Valley and No. 8 DuPage. 

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