Lisle rallies to stun Wheaton Academy
Lisle coach Dan Murray didn’t have to think long when asked if he’s ever burned up all his timeouts by the third quarter.
“No,” said the Lions coach with a smile. “Never.”
His Lions gave him good reason to remember the first time.
Kelly Urban scored 24 points, and Lisle rallied from a 15-point second-quarter deficit to beat Wheaton Academy 48-43 on Tuesday in West Chicago.
Down 22-7 at one point, the Lions came back to lead by 1 after three quarters. Then, trailing 43-39 midway through the final quarter, Lisle scored the game’s last 9 points.
“I’m just ridiculously proud of these kids,” Murray said. “That’s one of the best comebacks I’ve ever been a part of.”
Urban scored 10 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter, her baseline drive pulling Lisle (5-2) within 43-41 with 3:25 left. Shelby Kretman, who scored 14 points, stole the ball and scored to tie it, then made a pair of free throws with 1:48 left to push Lisle ahead 45-43. Urban hit 3 free throws in the final minute to ice the win.
“We knew what we had to do,” Urban said, “we just weren’t as focused as we should have been at the beginning. Once we started executing every thing came together.”
Urban was sensational, making 7 of her last 9 shots — her 3-pointer starting the climb back from down 15.
Murray and the Lions must love having the junior guard back.
Urban twice has gone down with ACL tears in high school, the last time in the conference tournament last winter. Urban missed the rest of the season and summer basketball, just rejoining Lisle at the start of practice this year.
“She’s been religious about her rehab,” Murray said.
Wheaton Academy (3-2) came out of the gate quick, its 13-4 lead after a quarter bulging to 15. Ally Witt scored 10 of her 13 points in the first half for the Warriors, who were hurt by foul problems that followed Sarah Drury all game. Wheaton Academy also was beat 26-16 on the boards, surrendering 13 offensive rebounds, and seemed to lose its composure with 10 fourth-quarter turnovers.
“It’s a very frustrating loss,” Warriors coach Beth Mitchell said. “One of those games where we beat ourselves. We became very chaotic when they started making their comeback. Give credit to Lisle.”
The Warriors’ trapping zone harassed Lisle into 14 first-half turnovers, prompting Murray to use up four timeouts before halftime. The Lions seemed to settle in and patiently run sets as the game progressed. Darian Payne, who had 8 points and 13 rebounds, gave Lisle its first lead when she ripped away a rebound and laid in a score for a 34-33 lead after three quarters.
“I told them at half, ‘We’re a bunch of athletes running around with basketball jerseys on — we’re not basketball players,’” Murray said. “To the girls’ credit as the game wore on they made the reads and attacked.”
Murray also appreciated his team’s desire.
“It seemed like the first half Wheaton Academy was beating us to all the loose balls,” Murray said. “In the second we were on the ground with them. They scrambled and they battled.”