Staff photo / Preston Byers. McDonald’s Juliana Krumpak prepares to pass the ball during the Blue Devils’ home win vs. Heartland Christian on Monday.

McDONALD — The McDonald girls basketball team finished off the 2024-25 regular season with a home victory Monday, defeating Heartland Christian 65-48 in one last test before the postseason.

Two days before hosting a playoff game, the Blue Devils, and Juliana Krumpak, in particular, let it fly from beyond the arc. Krumpak made eight 3-pointers Monday, which McDonald coach Tyler Kilbourne said could be a new school record.

“I’m proud of the way they came out,” Kilbourne said. “We had a big game Saturday [against Lowellville]. Usually, you have a letdown game after one of those big games. We came out, we played well, and most importantly, played as a team, which is fantastic.”

After a game-opening triple by Heartland Christian, the Blue Devils took over and outscored the Lions 16-4 the rest of the quarter.

HC’s offense proved slightly more effective in the second quarter, but the Devils still extended their lead to 14 points by halftime.

Despite an 8-0 run midway through the third, bringing the deficit back into the single digits, the Lions failed to get any closer, and McDonald cruised to its 14th win of the season.

As a bonus, the Devils managed to clear their bench and give some rare playing time to many of their reserves.

While the win was a goal, Kilbourne said avoiding injury was the primary objective for McDonald considering the Blue Devils host United in a Division VI, Northeast 2 sectional semifinal on Wednesday.

Additionally, the first-year coach praised his team’s rebounding, a point of focus ahead of the postseason.

“Today was the perfect game for us to box out,” Kilbourne said. “The Reynolds girls (Rachel and Sarah) are really good rebounders — they’re strong — and we matched up pretty well. I was really proud. The first time we played them, they got a ton of offensive rebounds.”

A reason for that, Lions coach Scott Libb said, could be the types of shots the teams were taking.

“We were just having a really hard time with their transition basketball there in the first half, [and they] caught us behind the eight ball,” Libb said. “They were getting the balls out. We were shooting longer shots. They were getting longer rebounds. They’re beating us down the court. My girls were crashing the boards on offense instead of getting back and led to some easy baskets for them in the first half, and then we just weren’t able to overcome that.”

Unlike McDonald, Heartland Christian (10-9) has one more game on its regular-season schedule; coincidentally, the Lions play Valley Christian in their season finale Wednesday before a rematch in the Division VII, Northeast 3 sectional final Saturday.

McDonald (14-8), on the other hand, will play United on Wednesday, and if victorious, will travel to Columbia Station to play Columbia on Saturday.

“Obviously, it’s the playoffs and we want to come out with energy, but we prepared really hard the whole entire year, so treat it as a regular game, come out with energy, play hard,” Kilbourne said of his team’s approach to the postseason. “The way these girls are playing right now is awesome. It’s fun to watch.”