Ljubuncic scores 43 points to help Lewis Mills beat Farmington in 2 OT

Lewis Mills teammates celebrate with Layla Ljubuncic, center with basketball, who surpassed 1,000 points in her career in Wednesday night’s CCC win over Farmington in double OT. Ljubuncic sank 11 three-point shots and scored a career-high 43 points. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press
FARMINGTON, January 21, 2026 – Layla Ljubuncic was happy to score her 1,000th career point Wednesday night, but even more ecstatic to lead the Lewis Mills High girls basketball team to victory in a 74-71 double-overtime thriller against Farmington.

“One thousand percent,” said the junior sharpshooter. “I wasn’t thinking about the 1,000 points. When you’re in such a close game, the only thing I could think about was winning. The double overtime was insane. I’m so happy we came out with a win.”

Ljubuncic poured in 43 points while draining 11 3-pointers, with some bombs from Catilin Clark range two or three steps behind the arc. Both numbers might be school records. She also grabbed six rebounds and sank four key free throws that allowed Mills to lock up the win in the second overtime.

“Layla was incredible. She had one game once where she scored 36, but it was against a weak team, not in a pressure cooker like this,” said Mills coach Al Ciarlo. “This was clutch stuff.”

“We thought we had a good plan for her. I thought we executed our plan defensively,” said Farmington coach Jeff Manaresi. “She shot 20 threes and made (11) of them – in our gym. There are professional basketball players who don’t shoot 50%, so that alone is just absurd.”

Ljubuncic put the Spartans (8-2, 1-0 CCC Central) ahead for good with her 11th trey for a 69-66 lead with 2:11 left in the second extra period. Liza Putnam’s foul shot upped the margin to four, but Farmington’s Reese Bishop halved the lead with her driving hoop with 1:37 to play.

Ljubuncic canned two foul shots, but Emma Glick pulled the River Hawks within 72-71 by swishing her own clutch 3-pointer. Mills senior guard Jillian Tiso missed two foul shots with 14 seconds to play, but teammate Brooke Martineau grabbed the most important of her eight rebounds to retain possession.

“That’s the biggest rebound she’s ever made in her life,” said Ciarlo.

Tiso was again fouled, but this time she swished them both for a 74-71 score with 9.2 seconds left.

“Definitely very pressure-packed. I just embraced the noise. You know, deep breaths,” Tiso explained.

With Mills guarding against a 3-point attempt, Farmington (8-2) was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.

The Spartans battled the taller River Hawks to a draw on the boards, with the home team holding just a 34-33 advantage. Martineau, Mills’ tallest starter, and Tiso, the smallest, both latched onto eight rebounds. Caitlyn Putnam added 14 points.

For Farmington (8-2, 1-1 CCC Central), Rachel Bergin netted a team-high 17 points and corralled nine rebounds. Glick scored 14 points, Sydnie Smith had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Ava Gaudet added 11 points.

Farmington enjoyed an early 10-2 lead before Ljubuncic hit a couple of threes to pull Mills within 13-10 at the end of one period. The River Hawks were ahead, 28-20, at halftime, but the Spartans scored the first seven points of the third period to rally.

“We talked about coming out with focus and determination to win and to play good defense. If we can lock down on defense, the offense will come. We were able to do that,” said Ljubuncic.

Down 40-37 entering the fourth period, Mills tied the score at 44-44 on a Ljubuncic 3-pointer with five minutes to go that also boosted her over 1,000 points for her career.

She gave Mills its first lead of the night with another 3-pointer with 2:55 remaining in regulation.

With 52 seconds left, her long, lookahead pass to Caitlyn Putnam for a layup gave the Spartans a 57-55 lead. Smith scored inside for Farmington to tie the game and force overtime.

“They were hitting incredible shots. We were hitting incredible shots. It was crazy,” said Ciarlo. “We just had to gut it out.”

“All in all, we said in the locker room that we played well enough to win. We scored 71 points. Typically, that’s more than enough to win,” said Manaresi. “The problem is the kid on Lewis Mills just really had a night for herself. It was her night no matter what we did.”

Lewis Mills 74, Farmington 71, 2 OT
At Farmington
Lewis Mills (74) Jillian Tiso 2 2 6, Caitlyn Putnam 6 2 14, Brooke Martineau 1 2 4, Kendall Buthe 1 0 2, Liza Putnam 1 3 5, Layla Ljubuncic 14 4 43. Totals 25 13 74
Farmington (71) Reese Bishop 1 4 6, Bella Audi 0 0 0, Alexia Juliano 4 0 8, Caroline Ranucci 0 0 0, Briella Rich 1 0 2, Rachel Bergin 7 0 17, Ava Gaudet 4 0 11, Emma Glick 5 1 14, Sydnie Smith 6 1 13. Totals 28 6 71
Lewis Mills (8-2)           10  10  17  20  5  2  – 74
Farmington (8-2)          13  15   12  17  5  9  – 71
Three-point goals: Ljubuncic (LM) 11, Bergin (F) 3, Gaudet (F) 3, Glick (F) 3