“I think every big win we’ve had in tournaments, it starts out the same way,” Badin coach Tom Sunderman said. “We come out, and we hit shots. It happened against Urbana last year, Carroll two years ago, Roger Bacon four years ago.
“But first of all, our defense. Let’s talk about our defense. It was phenomenal today. The girls executed the game plan almost to a T, and our shots fell.”
Badin has won five in a row and snapped Carroll’s 17-game win streak. The Patriots beat the Rams in both meetings during the regular season — 43-31 at Badin on Dec. 7 and 50-36 at Carroll on Jan. 11.
The Rams (20-6) have knocked the Patriots (22-3) out of the tournament for a third straight season.
“We talked about if we could get ahead against Carroll, they may feel the pressure,” Sunderman said. “The fact that their last two outs have been us, it’s just if we could get that lead, they’ll start feeling it.”
Badin will face Purcell Marian (20-6) — which beat Chaminade Julienne 60-38 on Tuesday — in a regional final at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Lakota East. Purcell Marian has won state titles the last three seasons.
Badin has reached the regional title game for a fifthstraight time and secured its fourth consecutive 20-win season.
The Rams advanced to the Division II regional title game each of the previous four seasons — falling to Purcell Marian (75-29) in 2024, Purcell Marian (64-54) in 2023, Alter (45-35) in 2022 and Carroll (45-41) in 2021.
“I’m proud of these kids,” Sunderman said. “Five years in a row they’re in the Elite Eight. Five different groups. Yes, some of them it’s been their second, third or fourth trip — but in other words, every year it’s been a different kind of group. That’s credit to them.”
Badin knocked down 6 of 10 from 3-point range in the opening period to grab the early momentum. It was Pate who led the charge.
“I think that was our best first quarter we’ve ever had this season,” said Pate, a senior guard. “I think it was all of us staying positive and just encouraging each other to keep shooting, keep doing this, talking to each other on stuff that we needed to do. I think that really helped us.
“The first quarter really boosted our energy. The energy from the crowd and the bench really helped us. The energy on the court, too — which really helped us throughout the rest of the game.”
The Rams shot 13 of 36 (50%) from the floor and assisted on 10 of their made buckets in the first half. Badin led 32-19 at the half.
Gracie Cosgrove scored 16 points, while Braelyn Even added eight points and nine rebounds for the Rams. Blake Sakach chipped in with eight points.
Eva Snyder led the Patriots in scoring with 14 points, while Kiera Healy had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Lyla Oliver added 12 points.
Badin mounted its largest lead at 39-21 in the third quarter, and Carroll couldn’t completely close the gap.
“We put our girls in the best possible position to win,” Sunderman said. “But they’re the ones who have to execute it all, and they’ve done a phenomenal job.”
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