The Ironmen girls basketball team secured a fourth consecutive Intercity Tournament title on Nov. 29, opening the 2024-25 campaign 4-0 on the back of statement wins and standout performances.

After losing last season’s starting lineup and welcoming 10 juniors to the roster, head coach Mr. Dave Feeney said the team faced many “unknowns” heading into the season.

Those uncertainties began to fade as Community tipped off the tournament with a 52-45 victory over the Normal West Wildcats.

Senior Camry Fisher—a first-time varsity starter—anchored the Iron in the opener, racking up a team-high 14 points and securing a key rebound to halt a late West comeback attempt.

Feeney praised Fisher’s performance, calling her contributions “huge” in a game where the Iron “needed every point.”

But the senior’s strongest asset won’t show up on the stat sheet.

Fisher, Feeney said, is the team’s “rock,” providing “a poise that is contagious.”

And one that proved crucial in the back-and-forth contest against West, a game which saw the Iron with just a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Fisher’s calm demeanor and leadership were a stabilizing force for a young roster making its varsity debut.

And while the Ironmen lack varsity minutes, they don’t lack in confidence.

That is something Hayley Michels displayed against West. Michels, in her first varsity game, contributed eight points off the bench, including two critical three-pointers.

The team doesn’t lack experience in the Iron system either.

Michels is one of seven juniors with three years of program experience, learning the Iron playbook and team philosophies since her freshman year.

“Each level,” the coach said, is “like a microcosm” of varsity, the same approach to the game “just on a smaller scale.”

Experience, even on that scale, is something Feeney said helped the roster prepare for the leap into varsity competition.

The jump, however, doesn’t come without its share of “growing pains,” something the Iron experienced in their opening week.

In all but one tournament game—the decisive 63–39 win over U-High—Community found themselves trailing in the second quarter: down three to West, 12 to Bloomington and six to Central Catholic.

But the Ironmen demonstrated their ability to emerge in the second half to erase each deficit.

Against the Raiders, Community went on a 24-10 run after halftime, securing a 44-33 comeback victory.

The championship game brought the toughest test: an undefeated Central Catholic team that had challenged Community in last year’s tournament.

The Iron trailed the Saints 32-29 at the break before taking a 46-44 advantage heading into the final period.

The fourth quarter proved the difference-maker, as the Iron outscored Central Catholic 18-2 to take home a 64-46 win—and an outright State Farm Bloomington-Normal Intercity Girls Basketball Tournament Title.

Those comebacks speak to an emerging strength of the 2024-25 roster—resilience.

“Any team can just lead from the front and just go,” Feeney said. “It takes a special group of kids to take kind of a punch and then bounce back.”

This roster, the coach said, is a “32-minute team,” a team that fights for every possession and every point.

The Iron’s undefeated record Feeney credited for the team’s growth throughout the week, noting that the sequence of games was key to the four-peat.

“Had we played Central Catholic earlier in the week,” Feeney said, “I don’t know that the result is the same.”

By the tournament’s end, the Iron found their rhythm, with the conversation at halftime against the Saints reflecting a newfound maturity.

In the locker room, Feeney said, the team was talking about bouncing back from mistakes and encouraging each other.

“Night one,” Feeney said, “I don’t think anybody felt secure enough to say those things out loud.”

Also speaking volumes was the team’s defensive intensity throughout the tournament, with Community averaging 13.3 steals and 11.3 deflections per game.

Rayna Powers led the charge, posting 4.5 steals and seven rebounds per game.

Defense fueled the offense, as the Iron converted 87 of its 223 points from turnovers.

“Our defense didn’t just stop [our opponents],” Feeney said, “it ignited our offense.”

In the paint, 6-foot-1 junior Marco Reynolds provided a crucial inside presence, creating opportunities for shooters like Kenna Malinowski, who averaged three triples per game on a 32.4% success rate.

Reynolds’ ability to draw double teams and pass out to open teammates earned her the third-most assists on the team.

As the team looks ahead to the rest of the season, maintaining this balance between defensive tenacity and offensive efficiency will be crucial.

Community takes the court again on Dec. 6, hosting the Urbana Tigers at 7:30 pm on their newly renovated home floor.