Visit to Hinckley-Big Rock worthwhile for Lisle

Two days away from the 88th anniversary of the Harlem Globetrotters' first game, which was played in Hinckley, the Lisle Lions traveled to play Hinckley-Big Rock in girls basketball action on Monday night.

The Lions jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on their way to a 39-23 victory.

The snow in Hinckley didn't start falling till shortly after the tipoff, so the game went as scheduled. And after the two teams found themselves tied 4-4 early in the first quarter, a 9-0 Lisle run predicated on 5 first-quarter Hinckley-Big Rock turnovers gave the Lions a 13-4 lead.

A late 3-pointer by Royals guard Alexis Gonzalez narrowed the Lisle cushion to 13-7 at the end of one quarter. Gonzalez led Hinckley-Big Rock (7-10) in scoring with 11 points. She tied for the lead among all scorers with Lisle freshman point guard Natalie Takahashi.

Takahashi's play was pivotal against Hinckley-Big Rock's zone defense as the Lions (11-7) came off a six-day holiday break since last playing on Dec. 30.

"I wasn't really worried because we had the tournament and we had plenty of practice right before this game," Takahashi said. "We went over what Hinckley does on offense and defense and I felt prepared."

In the second quarter Lisle went on a 10-0 run that spanned the entire period and gave them a 23-7 lead heading into halftime. The Lions inevitably went on to turn the Royals over 17 times, who were playing without a key piece in senior Jacqueline Madden.

"We've been inconsistent this year. I thought we've played well enough to win more games than we have," Lisle coach Nick Balaban said. "It was nice to have a nonconference game to come back to tonight.

"Coach (Greg) Burks does a nice job with Hinckley-Big Rock, and I know they've lost one of their better players and they've been up and down this year, so it's not the typical Hinckley team of the past. But they're a quality program. They've got good players and they're well-coached."

In addition to Takahashi's outing, the Lions also got balanced scoring while playing all 11 players on their roster. TyAnn LeGrand-Melton added 8 points, while Monifah Davis, Leah Reeves and Sarah Mogensen all scored 6 points.

Lisle will continue Interstate Eight Conference play on Thursday when it travels to Sandwich.