Evanston too strong against short-handed Schaumburg

Schaumburg's girls basketball team wasn't at full strength on Saturday afternoon.

That helped Evanston to use its strengths and post a 62-36 victory over the Saxons and close out play in the Schaumburg Thanksgiving tournament.

"I was expecting a competitive game but obviously with two of your top players out that is going to affect any team," said Wildkits coach Elliot Whitefield, whose team finished the round-robin event at 3-2.

Saxons senior forwards Jada Blackwell (5-foot-11) and Tatiana Doroskin (6-4) were sidelined with sprained ankle injuries.

"Tatiana has really been our anchor," said Saxons coach Curtis Goodwin, whose team is 2-3. "She is a presence inside. And Jada (who already has 26- and 24-point scoring games) has been pretty good offensively and tough to guard."

Nevertheless, the Saxons made things interesting, leading 9-5 three minutes into the game after junior Paige Alt (6 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

They trailed only 15-13 early in the second but the Wildkits went on a 19-3 run before senior guard Brittany Reinhart hit a 3-pointer to make it 34-19.

Reinhart (11) points and sophomore Mallory Gerber (12) were the Saxons' two double-figure scorers.

"It's rough without them (Doroskin and Blackwell)," Reinhart said. "They are big role players so other players had to be in different roles. We will get stronger.

"We had a great summer. Injuries are having an impact on us now, but hopefully we can work through it."

Whitefield's offense worked a lot from the outside where it connected for a season-high six 3-pointers. including two apiece from senior Allysah Boothe (9 points) and sophomore Hanan Richmond (14 points).

Also reaching double figures for the Central Suburban South representative was sophomore Leighah-Amori Wool (13 points).

"Defensively, I thought we did a good job pressuring the lanes in the first half," Whitefield said. "And we did a good job passing the ball around, catching it and being ready to score."

Schaumburg scored all of its third-quarter points at the free throw line, getting three from Gerber, two from senior Taylor Helton and one from senior Kelsey Hill.

"We had people step in to fill roles which they hadn't done in the past," Goodwin said. "We don't make excuses. I'm not sure yet when Tatiana and Jada will be back but we will look forward to it. At the same time, we'll make adjustments in practice so people are comfortable with their roles and get ready to compete for our upcoming games."

Goodwin felt the Wildkits did a solid job with their defensive pressure.

"Brittany (Reinhart) and Mallory (Gerber) played well," he added. "I thought our girls played hard. It just seemed like we couldn't get our traction going."