Pompa, South Elgin rout St. Edward
Teagen Pompa has been putting in extra work on her shooting. It sure showed on Tuesday. Pompa nailed seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points in a little over a half, leading South Elgin past St. Edward, 72-39.
Kennedy Wells scored 13 points off the bench for South Elgin (11-5). Bridgette Williams contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds, Mackie Kelleher had 10 points and 7 boards, and Nadia Yang chipped in 9 points for South Elgin in nonconference girls basketball action at South Elgin.
St. Edward led briefly at 5-2, but Pompa's first 3-pointer ignited a 13-0 run that put the Storm ahead to stay.
"We knew we had an advantage down low with our 4s and 5s being bigger. I told them, 'you'd better own the boards.' We got some putbacks and it just kind of snowballed from there. At halftime I just told them to cut down the turnovers, close out a little bit, take that 15-point lead and don't give them any confidence," said South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack.
Pompa turned in a breakout performance, despite sitting out most of the second and fourth quarters.
"I shoot a lot outside of practice just so I can get going in the game," she said. "I didn't want it to come halfway through the season. I wanted it to come a little earlier, but I guess it is what it is."
The Storm defense fueled a devastating run at the end of the third quarter that put the game completely out of reach. South Elgin turned a 42-22 lead into a 62-24 advantage by the end of the quarter.
"Our coach really emphasizes defense, and I think our defense kicked off the whole run," said Yang.
Yang was right in the middle of it. On consecutive possessions, she came up with a steal and fed Pompa for a layup, made another steal and took it in herself, then made a third steal. The ensuing shot missed, but Pompa ended up with the rebound and made her final 3-pointer of the night. Wells followed with a breakaway layup to make it 58-24.
Spagnola finished with 10 points, and Yssa Sto. Domingo added 9 for St. Edward (8-6), which lost its fourth straight after opening 8-2. The young Green Wave just couldn't match up with the bigger, deeper Storm.