Lethargic Kaneland falls to Yorkville

There was very little separating the Kaneland and Yorkville girls basketball teams as they split two close meetings earlier this season.

Friday night was a completely different story.

The visiting Foxes connected on their first 5 shots and never looked back, locking up the Northern Illinois Big 12 East Conference title with a convincing 55-37 victory over the ailing Knights in Maple Park.

Lauren Daffenberg led all scorers with 13 points for Yorkville (21-2, 12-0), which led 16-6 after one quarter and 37-20 at the half.

Vanessa Gould collected a team-high 10 points and 5 rebounds for Kaneland (19-4, 7-4) while Bailey Crimmins finished with 9 points.

"We were worried about tonight just because we've been sending kids home early the last two days of practice. Literally eleven kids have been sick," said Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe. "It's not an excuse because Yorkville's a really good team and they took it to us."

"This was the first game that we've come out of the gate knocking down shots in quite a while," said Yorkville coach Luke Engelhardt. "We were lucky that we made those shots early, otherwise, it probably would have come down to the last shot again."

It was a difficult evening all around for the Knights as they made just 1-for-9 3-point attempts and went 8-for-21 from the line.

Yorkville held a commanding 34-23 rebounding edge thanks to post players Lindsay Harrison and Katie Nolan, who combined for 19 points and 12 rebounds.

"Usually we're pretty sound on defense," Gould said. "We didn't get back and we weren't rebounding to the best of our abilities. Those second and third shots just added up."

"By far this was the most lethargic we've been all year," Colombe said. "Giving up 37 in the first half is more than we try to give up in an entire game."

Kaneland hoped to shave the deficit to single digits with a solid third quarter, but Nolan scored two baskets in the opening minute. The Knights never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

They will try to secure their 20th win tonight against West Aurora in the Kaneland Shootout.

"We'll see how they feel when they come in. Usually they're here all day for the shootout, but we'll have them come in late and see what happens," Colombe said.