By MATT GOLDBERG

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

JACKSONVILLE -- Chloe Barnes had her 22-game double figures scoring streak snapped on Monday.

But she did other things -- such as making a pair of free throws in overtime and pulling down seven rebounds -- to make sure the Lady Raiders' 31-game winning streak didn't end.

That's the streak she really cared about.

"I was struggling the whole game," Barnes said. "I realized that if I wasn't hitting my shots I needed to step up and do the little things."

State trip even more rewarding for Barnes: When Barnes ran off the court, the tears of joy began to flow.

It's been a long year for Barnes, who transferred to QND from Quincy High School during the summer.

"It's a really good feeling to know that I went through the eligibility process and I went through a lot of obstacles and everything," Barnes said. "When it comes down to it I was a part of a great team. And now we're going to do something amazing."

QND experiences a few firsts: The Lady Raiders didn't endure their first loss.

But they did experience a pair of firsts. They played in their first overtime game of the season and had their first game without multiple double-figure scorers.

QND gets second chance: It seems strange to hear an undefeated team talk about getting a second chance.

Being perfect implies that you don't make mistakes.

The do-over, that some of the players spoke of came in the form of overtime.

Highland's Jamie Kloss made her first free throw to tie the game at 37. She missed the second with 44.2 left in regulation. If Kloss makes that, the Lady Raiders' season could have easily ended.

Even though QND only would have trailed by one, points were hard to come by at the time.

The teams combined for seven fourth-quarter points and only three points were scored in the final 3:13.

Barnes' game-winning attempt with three seconds left in regulation was off the mark, causing the game to go into overtime tied at 37.

"That last shot, it was nerve wracking that it didn't go in," McLaughlin said. "But then you know you always have a second chance. When that overtime came we knew we couldn't let it slip by. That was our chance and we just had to take that and finish the game and win."

QND did just that, outscoring Highland 11-5 in the extra period.

Overtime a new experience for Lady Raiders: With starting center Natalie Siebers struggling and Gabrielle Douglas and Morgan Grawe not receiving their usual amount of playing time, the Lady Raiders went with a six-person rotation late in the game.

"They have to be tired because we went with a limited group there late," QND coach Eric Orne said. "But what a feeling right now."

Orne opted to only press on a limited basis late in the game.

"We just had to pick the times," Orne said. "We just wanted to get the momentum back in our hands. So that was the big thing."

QND students get behind Lady Raiders: The QND student section had a little extra incentive for being so loud supporting and supporting its team.

"Everybody at school was like, 'You've got to go to state so we don't have to go to school on Friday,'" QND senior captain Janell Vermeire said. "But they care about us. They just care about school more."

Highland has more than twice as many students as QND.

"Our crowd has a way of being loud even if there aren't many of them," Vermeire said. "Our cheering section is amazing and our parents got involved with our cheering section. That's what you need to do."

State tickets go on sale on Wednesday: Tickets for Friday's Class 3A state tournament semifinal game between Quincy Notre Dame and Chicago Marshall will go sale at 7 a.m. Wednesday at the QND athletic office.

Tickets will be sold to all basketball families, QND faculty and the student body from 7-9 a.m. that day. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., tickets will be available to the general public. If there are tickets remaining, they will be sold from 8 a.m. until noon on Thursday.

QND will not hold any tickets and tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. The school will not accept telephone requests.

-- mgoldberg@whig.com/221-3367