Community’s girls basketball team were crowned outright Intercity champions for the third straight year on Tuesday, extending their tournament reign with a 4-0 start to the season.

This group of players have never lost to a Bloomington-Normal opponent in Intercity or regular season action, the program’s streak starting in the 2020-21 season.

Nov. 13’s season opening win, a 49-19 rout of the Bloomington High School Raiders, introduced the new-look Iron.

Community returned four starters from last year in Olivia Corson, Giana Rawlings, Ali Ince and Allie Rustemeyer with a junior class that head coach Mr. Dave Feeney said are out to “prove themselves” bolstering the veteran lineup.

That group includes newcomers A’Meah Lester, Marco Reynolds and Sydney Janssen.

In the season’s premiere, the tandem of Lester and Reynolds demonstrated their ability off the bench.

The 5-foot-4 Lester “burned her defender, got into the paint, and dumped it off to Marco for a short jumper,” Feeney said.

Lester’s “quickness and defensive tenacity,” Feeney said, makes her “different from a lot of the other [players].”

What Lester provides in agility, Reynolds adds in size and strength boasting a 6-foot-1 frame.

Reynolds recorded her first block of the season in just nine minutes played—last year’s block leader tallied just 12 total blocks on the season.

6-foot-1 Janssen tipped the ball off for the Iron, making her debut to the starting lineup and varsity roster as an injury kept her off the court last year.

Janssen “is a very good passer out of the post,” Feeney said, “she has great touch.”

The junior’s height and ability to move the ball are giant assets for the Ironmen, as the team looks to fill the void left by
graduate Sophia Feeney last season’s All-Conference point guard and second most prolific passer.

With Janssen in at the five, six-footer Allie Rustemeyer can stretch out to the perimeter, contrasting her interior role last year.

Playing the four-position allowed Rustemeyer to make a splash in her debut, draining three shots from downtown—already matching her season total makes from last year.

Coach Feeney was “really impressed” with the senior’s performance.

But he wasn’t surprised.

“[I] knew that she was a good shooter,” the coach said. Playing outside the paint, the standout shooter was in a better position to “showcase some more of what she can do.”

The second game was all defense, the Iron shutting University High School down 58-16.

Community racked up 28 steals with five players tallying three or more.

A’Meah Lester shined in the contest, putting up 10 points and four steals.

Junior Rayna Powers put up dominant numbers of her own, forcing six turnovers and deflecting the ball twice, despite the DI soccer commit’s absence from multiple preseason practices.

Powers, a verbal commit to the University of Kentucky, is splitting time between her club soccer team and basketball.

The cross-relationship between the two sports makes her “unbelievable,” Feeney said, highlighting her “ability to read angles defensively.”

The Iron finished the first two games of the season outscoring opponents 107-35.

Game three, a rematch of a summer scrimmage that saw Bloomington Central Catholic come out victorious, would pose more of a challenge.

This time, the Iron came with a “chip on [their] shoulder,” Corson said, edging out the Saints 53-41.

The Saints surged out with a 7-0 run to start the game.

Central Catholic, Corson said, “knew they could beat us if they came out and played good,”

The Iron’s start, the senior said, “was a little flat.”

But a Giana Rawlings’ three-ball would deflate the Saints’ offense, breaking the Iron’s scoring drought and allowing Community to “settle into the groove of the game,” Corson said.

After that, it was all Iron.

“We couldn’t really be stopped after that,” Corson continued.

Community outscored the Saints 18-2, an offensive run capped off by Ali Ince’s buzzer-beating bank shot from deep to end the first quarter.

The Saints came within single digits in a late run, but Corson responded with nine fourth quarter points to ice the game.

Powers contributed as well, muscling her way to 13 points in the contest, all of them being interior layups and and-1s.

The physicality was a common theme throughout the game, leaving both Sydney Janssen and Sophie Barlow on the ground with injuries.

Considering Janssen’s ACL tear last year, Feeney’s heart “skipped a beat,” he said, seeing the junior hit the ground.

Janssen did not return, but the injury is not serious according to initial reports.

Barlow came down on her wrist but preserved through the game.

The Iron had already secured a share of the title coming into the final game, but they didn’t show any signs of letting up, adding a 79-35 victory over Normal West to their win totals.

A different lineup began the game with Janssen out: Rustemeyer moved to the five and Lester started at the one.

The team came out blazing with the smaller lineup, hitting three after three, making 10 total of their 23 attempts on the night.

Rawlings made it rain, cashing out four triples.

Five others contributed from range, getting the Iron bench on their feet at each snap of the net.

Some coaches would refrain from such a three-point barrage.

Feeney encourages it.

If the players are in rhythm, on balance, and open, the coach said, “we want [them] shooting the basketball.”

Feeney emptied his bench to end the game, the rest of the team erupting in cheers from the sidelines for every play the reserves made.

On a team with such talent, Feeney said, it’s important for the players to recognize that “they’re a part of something really special here.”

The end-of-the-bench players represent “everything that [the team] is about,” he continued.

Community’s third straight 4-0 start is a “great tribute” to the players, the coach said, and a “great start to the season.”

The Ironmen tip off next on the road against Limestone High School at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28.

Catch the Inkspot’s next livestream for the home match against Peoria Richwoods on Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.