NORMAL — Maggie Jarzemsky and her St. Edward teammates have had the goal of playing in the basketball state finals since they were little girls.

A torn ACL in April and subsequent June surgery, however, cast some doubt that Jarzemsky would be a part of it if the Green Wave were able to get there. But she stayed optimistic.

“I was always planning on coming back,” Jarzemsky said. “I was hoping to come back a little bit earlier than expected, but that got pushed back. I was able to play the last month of the season.”

Limited to 15 minutes in her 12th game this winter, Jarzemsky scored three points, hauled down six rebounds and added steals Thursday afternoon for the Green Wave in 54-41 loss to Pecatonica in the Class 1A state semifinals at CEFCU Arena.

The senior forward has provided a big boost to St. Edward (26-12) despite being on on minutes restriction, including Monday’s 56-43 supersectional win over Willows that clinched a lifelong dream of playing at state.

Savannah Lynch led the Green Wave on Thursday with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jordin Sauls added eight points. Elaina Rager topped all scorers with 25 points for Pecatonica (31-6).

After all the hard work behind the scenes, just being on the court at Illinois State was a dream come true for Jarzemsky and the Green Wave, who then lost 50-44 to Cissna Park (31-6) in the third-place game. Lynch scored 18 points and Layne Dawson came through with 11.

“To be able to go down here with my teammates was one of our goals since we were watching the 2017 team down here,” Jarzemsky said of a group that took third in 2A. “It’s an amazing feeling.”St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson was not only impressed with the work the Alma recruit put in physically to overcome her injury. She was also liked with how she stuck together with the team.

“Maggie spent a lot of her time really learning the game, the mental part of the game, and being the best teammate ever for these girls when she wasn’t on the court,” Dawson said.

St. Edward missed two free throws with 3:44 left in the second quarter that would have forced a 17-17 tie. Rager then hit two straight 3-pointers to push Pecatonica’s lead to eight.

That was enough to keep the Green Wave at bay the rest of the game, and they never got closer than five points in the second half.

“In my opinion, that was really the difference,” Dawson said. “Because other than free throws when we had to foul in the fourth quarter, we played them pretty even.”

On the court, the 5-foot-9 Jarzemsky’s presence in the post created even more depth for St. Edward, which leaned on its entire roster all season.

Between Jarzemsky, Sauls and Amelia Davis down low, the Green Wave had things covered.

“The three of them are so effective in different ways on the court,” Dawson said. “When we need that defensive spark, we go with Maggie. When we need a quick bucket, Jordin is the one.

“Amelia usually disrupts people with her defense in the paint and pulls down some key boards.”

Sauls certainly appreciated having Jarzemsky back to handle things in the post.

“She’s always so supportive,” Sauls said. “She’s always there for me. She’s got my back on defense. She has great communication. She gets the boards.

“It’s kind of a sense of relief knowing I have another teammate who will help out.”

All in all, the journey back proved to be worth it for Jarzemsky.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to go through this injury with any other team,” Jarzemsky said. “All season long, the coaches and my teammates were so supportive of me.

“From day one, I had so much confidence in them.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.