Panthers react to state title: 'Everything good that could have happened literally happened'
- Joey Wright
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
NORMAL — The Washington girls basketball team enjoyed plenty of full-circle moments on Saturday afternoon at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
The Panthers led for most of a 60-45 win against Chatham Glenwood that gave them their first-ever state championship.
Avery Tibbs, the program’s all-time leading scorer, scored 13 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter of the Class 3A state final, which was a rematch of Washington’s 67-25 win against the Titans that opened their season on Nov. 20, 2025.
"I'm having a hard time breathing, to be honest," Washington head coach Kim Barth said shortly after the game. "I'm so excited. I can't think of a better group of humans to be sitting around me.
"They are amazing humans and they're going to be even better people in the world because of all the adversity we've faced the last couple of years."
Washington (35-2) led for more than 30 minutes of Saturday’s game after Tibbs and Mazzy O’Brien scored layups to help the Panthers open the game on a 4-0 run. It never trailed after Becca McDougall converted a layup to secure an 8-7 lead with 3:57 left in the first quarter.
Defense was crucial to Washington’s triumph; the Panthers scored nine of their 16 points off turnovers during the first half en route to a 34-22 halftime lead.
"(Glenwood had) really good rebounders, I thought, on the offensive end," Barth said. "But we knew that coming in. We knew we had to keep them off the boards. But offensively, rebounding, and (Alexis Neumann) is a heck of a player ... I thought we did a good job of controlling her."
Glenwood threatened late in the third quarter — at one point cutting its gap to 40-36 behind a strong start to the frame from Ava Bobb and Alexis Neumann — with Neumann and Ava Bobb combining for 11 points and Lily Prehn adding three free throws to give the Titans a spark.
"I know that (Washington) got into foul trouble," Glenwood coach Alyssa Riley said. "Taking advantage of opportunities, which was our goal from the beginning, and then keeping our foot on the gas pedal."
Enter Tibbs, who buried threes on consecutive possessions midway through the fourth quarter to give the Panthers a measure of insurance.
Eleven of her 13 fourth-quarter points came as part of a scoring run that gave Washington a 54-38 lead to put the game away with four minutes left.
"My teammates were finding me," Tibbs said. "In the huddle, we're very supportive of each other. I really couldn't have done it without my teammates. They weren't self-created shots, they were teammates that were driving down the lane and kicking out."
Becca McDougall chipped in 10 points and Dani Guedet added nine points for the Panthers, while the Titans were led by Alexis Neumann’s 16-point outing.
"We really leaned on each other," Guedet said. "I think there was pressure, but I think we've always been a team that plays well under pressure but we're able to handle it and come out on top."
Washington is now 3-1 in the state finals in the last two seasons; the 2024-25 Panthers finished 36-2 and won the Class 3A third-place game. Saturday’s game was Washington’s first time in a state championship game since 1977, when the Panthers fell to Sterling 52-38 in the first IHSA girls basketball state final ever played.
Washington’s third trip to state ended on a high note as its fans — which filled most of 12 sections behind the Panthers’ bench at CEFCU Arena — watched Diya Iyer take the final shot of the Panthers’ 35-2 campaign.
"The fact that I got to hold the ball for the last time ever with these girls and on a state championship run was the coolest thing," Iyer said. "And this season has just met the entire world to me, literally everything good that could have happened literally happened. And it was awesome. And I love playing with these girls."
Saturday also marked the final time Becca and Kate McDougall saw the floor as teammates, with Becca and the rest of Washington's eight-player senior class set to graduate in May.
Kate capped her freshman season with seven points, four assists and three rebounds.
"I probably won't ever get to play with her again," Becca McDougall said. "This is an opportunity most people don't get, so I'm so honored and I'm so thankful to do it with her."
"As you remember, (older sister) Claire four years ago lost in the super-sectionals and I just remember going up to her and saying 'it's okay, Claire, me and Becca will get it,' so it's just really emotional for me and to do it with my sister is something I'll never forget."
Among the teams that Washington beat during the regular season were Class 1A state qualifier Pleasant Plains and Class 4A qualifier Loyola, both of which Washington beat during a 27-win regular season.
Their win came just hours after fellow Tazewell County school Deer Creek-Mackinaw beat Mt. Pulaski 49-34 to win the Class 1A state title.
"I think the pressure, I know the schedule I created was a little crazy, some people thought," Barth said. "But everything we did had a purpose, but it paid off 100 percent to be sitting here with this amazing group of kids around. I couldn't have done it without them."