Junior forward Lily Porter was having a pretty good day Tuesday at Marist.
She definitely enjoyed the school day.
“Actually, my day was pretty good now that I’m thinking about it,” Porter said. “The vibes were just kind of up all day. Nothing was hard in my classes. It was just a very chill day.
“That’s just what I needed.”
To top it off, Porter’s night was even better.
She scored 30 points to go with eight rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots, helping the RedHawks beat Bloom 68-61 in a Class 4A Mother McAuley Sectional semifinal game in Chicago.
North Central College commit Olivia Cosme scored 14 points for second-seeded Marist (26-8), while her cousin, Lucy, added eight rebounds. But it was Porter who took center stage.
“I needed to be chill because I knew this game was going to be loud,” she said.
Kazaria Smith was just as loud, pacing Bloom (25-3) with 18 points and nine rebounds. Kamryn Turner added 15 points and five steals. Jenesis Moore finished with 10 points and four steals.
Although Marist doesn’t live and die by the 3-pointer, the RedHawks do rely on it. When they were blanked beyond the arc in the first half, the 5-foot-10 Porter got things going inside,
She scored six points in the final 1:45 of the second quarter that helped turn a 29-21 deficit into a 29-29 tie heading into the locker room at halftime.
“Her leadership really showed out there,” Marist coach Renee Chimino said of Porter. “She keeps everybody calm and she keeps everyone believing.
“It’s nice when she can put up big numbers, but even when she is not putting up big numbers, she can help in so many other ways.”
The RedHawks will play in a 6 p.m. Thursday sectional final against Homewood-Flossmoor (23-9), which pulled off a 54-46 upset of top-seeded Mother McAuley (23-9) in the other semifinal.
While Porter’s strong play in the closing minutes of the first half pulled the RedHawks even with the Blazing Trojans, Olivia Cosme lit the fuse in a huge second half for Marist.
She hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the third quarter that ignited a 22-2 run to put the RedHawks ahead 51-31. They were able to hang on the rest of the way.
“We were ice cold in the first half,” Chimino said. “That’s the resiliency of this group. They are not going to stop fighting and they are not going to stop shooting.
“Olivia is a spitfire. That’s what she does. You tell them to keep shooting, and when you are that good at it, you can’t let a couple off shots keep you from shooting. Those threes were clutch.”
Cosme confirmed she was happy to start the second half off on a big note. She noted there are times she would practice her shooting in the gym until 11:30 at night to get things right.
But Cosme also had plenty of praise for Porter for keeping Marist even in the first half despite the cold outside shooting.
“She just brings so much energy and I don’t know how to explain it,” Cosme said of Porter. “She’s a beast. And anything you think you can do, she can do better.”
Now, the RedHawks are looking for their second straight sectional title.
Despite some rough regular-season losses — including a 75-42 setback to Benet on Jan. 21 and a 65-42 loss to Nazareth on Feb. 7 — Marist is on a roll with five straight wins.
“Even when we’re not playing well, we know the next game is a new game,” Porter said. “We regrouped and had to figure it out. Playing bigger and better girls helps you in the playoffs.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.