“Dullard, and the Potters, are ‘phenomenal’ again”

Morton’s Lady Potters 66, Washington 41, Pep Band A+

Let’s say you’re that little red-headed guard for Washington. Your job is to get the ball in-bounds against the Potters’ press. Hah. Good luck with that, little red-headed guard. You can’t throw it over Lindsey Dullard, who at 6-foot-1 can look down on your little red head. Nor can you throw it around her because Dullard has longggggggggg arms. Maybe you could dig a tunnel under her if you had time, but you only have five seconds, so you fling the ball to anyone in home white, and then Dullard really does a thing.

She attacks the unfortunate girl who accepted the in-bounds pass and causes her to pawn it off on somebody who doesn’t want it, either, and gets it back to the little red-headed guard who waterbugs downcourt – “waterbugs” is how the Morton coach, Bob Becker, describes a zig-zagging dribble through his press – and finds herself in the paint, where she has escaped all that Dullard trouble at the other end – 80 feet back there where Dullard made her miserable – now she’s in the paint and the little red-headed guard puts up a little shot that is. . .

Blocked.

It barely gets out of the little red-head’s hands before it is . . .

Knocked out of the air by . . .

Dullard.

Lindsey Dullard had . . . wait, what?

She did WHAT? She was on one end line making the in-bounder miserable? Then she’s on the other end line making that same little red-headed girl more miserable? Methinks that at 3 o’clock this morning the little red-head will curl up under the blankets and say, in a whisper, “Please, big tall girl, leave me alone, I got class in the morning.”

In the meantime, Dullard will sleep the deep, restorative sleep of a player who saw the waterbug in the paint and decided, “Why don’t I try to block it?” She said those words with a winner’s smile on a night when my play-by-play notes contained these scribbles: “Dull, KK block together” . . . “Dull bock, all way from point” . . .”Dull block” . . . “Dull steal” . . . “Dull steal to Maddy 3” . . .”TD cutting, lu, Dull pass.” (Code: KK is Katie Krupa, Maddy is Maddy Becker, TD is Tenley Dowell, lu is layup.)

Or, in fewer words, here’s a word from Bob Becker on Lindsey Dullard: “Phenomenal.”

He said that after she scored all of seven points.

“She’s attacking, she’s aggressive, she’s deflecting balls, she’s rebounding, she’s blocking shots, she’s making the extra pass,” Becker said. “Everybody knows she can score, but right now – a stretch of games now, five, six games in a row – she has been a complete player.” Then Becker said what coaches love to say because it speaks to the very foundation of really good teams: “She’s making everybody better.”

Hey, it was 40-15 at the half. No contest. In two runs that lasted 7 minutes and 34 seconds, Morton outscored Washington, 24-0. Superior in every way, Morton was again what Bob Becker has made his mantra: “Relentless.” Aggressive at both ends for 32 minutes, whether with the starters or reserves, the Potters rendered Washington helpless en route to its 42nd straight victory in the Mid-Illini Conference. And Washington is as good as it gets in the rest of the league. It was 19-4 overall, 6-2 in the league. Morton is now 21-2 and 9-0.

My biggest worry tonight was – yes, it was, it always is and has been in each of eight previous winters — my biggest worry was again exposing my delicate ears to the work of the Washington High School pep band. It has never played music in my presence. It has played explosions. Apprehensive about what was to come, as the clock ticked toward the game’s 7 o’clock tipoff tonight, I made pep-band notes:

6:08: keyboards appear . . . 6:12: music stands set up . . . 6:14: brass arrives, trombones, trumpets, a baritone sax bigger than the girl carrying it . . . 6:34: oh, no, DRUMS! . . . 6:42: it’s beginning, please, God . . . . .

Only it was great. In an historical Mid-Illini upset, the Washington High pep band was great. No amps. Music, identifiable as such. Only 20 musicians. And they left at halftime. Bless ‘em all.

Dowell led Morton’s scoring with 13. Maddy Becker and Courtney Jones had 11 each, Peyton Dearing 10, Dullard 7, Kathryn Reiman 5, Raquel Frakes 3, Krupa and Megan Gold 2 apiece, Bridget Wood and Addie Cox 1 each.

By the way, once again the Potters’ faithful missed out on FREE CUSTARD! The Potters made 11 3’s (three each for Jones and Becker). But the magic 10 is good only for home games. Something must be done.