By Randy Whalen

An old standard of a good season in basketball is winning 20 games.  

The Joliet Central girls' basketball team had a good season. 

The Steelmen (20-12) captured the East Division of the Southwest Prairie Conference for the second straight season. Along the way, they reached 20 victories for the first time since going 26-6 in the 2019-20 season.

Although it ended sooner than they hoped, it was a very nice run and put Joliet Central girls' basketball back on the map. 

To win the conference and win 20 games is a special accomplishment for this group," Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel said. "We focused on defense a lot, and our offense came from our defense."

The Steelmen went 13-3 down the stretch, until losing their final game. In that time, they held eight opponents to 42 points or fewer. 

"I just feel like we were really together and played more as a team," said guard Ellie Fowler, who averaged 16.2 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game her first two seasons before missing last year with an ACL injury. "At first, after my surgery, I felt like I was done. But I came back stronger than ever."

Even with Fowler out last season, the Steelmen finished 16-17 and won the SPC East. But in her senior year, they won some of those close games that they didn't previously pull out.

"It was very fun and very interesting," senior forward Taneisha Robinson said of the season. "At the start it was very hard, but we ended up getting it together. We had team discussions, team bonding, and we grew as a team. We came to the conclusion that we wanted to be conference champs, and we got it done together.

"I was on the varsity for three years. What I'll remember is all the growth, not only the players, but the coaches as well. We all grew as a unit."

While the second half of the season went well for Joliet Central, the last game didn't. The Steelmen were seeded No. 4 in a sub-sectional as part of the Class 4A Peoria Richwoods Sectional. They faced No. 5-seeded Rock Island at the East Moline United Regional on Monday, February 16, and lost 64-31.

Rock Island (16-14) went on to lose 52-48  on Thursday, February 19, to top-seeded Richwoods in the regional title game. In the sectional semifinals, on Tuesday, February 23, host Richwoods defeated No. 3 Moline 62-46. The Maroons finished 25-8. The Knights (24-4) faced the No. 2 seed from the other sub-sectional, Belleville East (27-5), a 45-40 winner over No. 1-seeded Alton (28-3) in the second semifinal, on Thursday, February 26, at 6 PM for the sectional title.

Not much went right for Jolie Central in its last game. Sophomore guard Melani Tua-Link led the Steelmen with eight points. Fowler and fellow senior guard Nevaeh Wright added seven points apiece. 

"It was a long trip," Brumfiel said. "But that's no excuse; we should have been more competitive."

Fowler agreed.

"I think we got nervous and we weren't mentally ready to play," she said. "We knew the end could come."

It did, but not before the Steelmen reached 20 wins with a 72-53 SPC victory on Tuesday, February 10, at Plainfield South.  

"We've known each other forever," Fowler said. "So I felt confident this season. Even coming back, I predicted it (a conference championship). I think our win over JCA showed that we got better. It showed what we could do."

That was a 67-47 victory on Monday, January 5, at Joliet Catholic Academy. It was quite a turnaround as the Angels (14-16) defeated Joliet Central 48-40 in the team's first meeting on Friday, November 21, in the WJOL Tournament at Joliet Junior College.

"Yes, the second time we played JCA is when everything clicked," Brumfiel said. "We definitely hit our stride after struggling at the Hillcrest Christmas Tournament. We took off and played well as a team."

Fowler, Alexis Pedrosa, Aniya Phillips, Robinson, and Wright, along with manager Naledi Emden-Donkor, were the seniors on the team.

"It's kind of sad, and I'm going to miss it a lot," said Wright, who was on the varsity for four seasons. "But Coach Brimfiel prepared me for the next level."

Wright said she will announce where she plans to play in college in April. Fowler and Robinson also plan to play in college.

"We were back-to-back conference champs," Wright said. "I'm so glad we got to do that and very happy to have that accomplishment. Plus, we got 20 wins, and not many do that. We started rocky, but we just trusted each other and made our mark."