Wheaton North eliminates West Chicago
Wheaton North sophomore Matti Zander came out Tuesday with the same old tenacity on the basketball court but wearing a new uniform number.
For the Falcons' Class 4A Bartlett regional opener against West Chicago, the 5-foot-6 guard debuted as No. 14 - a number reserved by coach Dave Eaton for outstanding defensive players in his program.
"I was excited to carry on the tradition because it's really cool," Zander said. "But it's all my team. If they don't help me, then I can't do anything (defensively)."
Zander and the Falcons held the Wildcats scoreless for the first 4:31, dominating from the start for a 50-32 victory.
The Falcons (12-15) jumped to an 11-0 lead and were ahead 17-2 after one quarter and 30-8 by halftime.
Wheaton North, the No. 13 seed in the Schaumburg sectional, will play No. 4 Bartlett (20-7) at 6 p.m. in Wednesday's regional semifinals. The senior-dominated Hawks, winners of 11 straight, beat the Falcons 43-40 in last year's regional semifinals.
"It's going to be tough on their home court, but we've got kids that are going to fight and we're going to do our best to make it a game," Eaton said.
"We want to try and get off to an early start and I thought we did that (Tuesday). I thought our kids played really well and then we did just enough to hang on and get it done."
Sophomore Hannah Swider led the Falcons with 11 points and 5 steals. Zander had 10 points, junior Bella Mullaney 9 points and 5 rebounds and freshman Nikki Baird 7 points and 3 blocks.
Senior Brie Williams had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for No. 20 West Chicago (3-24). The Wildcats, who started five seniors, made 3 of 26 shots in the first half with 13 turnovers.
"We got snake bit a little bit," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said. "We just were a little bit unaggressive (early) and they were aggressive. We tried to prepare our team for that. (Our team) didn't shoot well and got down."
Zander and Swider each scored 6 points in the first quarter and senior Emmy Gryna nailed a 3.
Zander's specialty, however, usually is defense. Her No. 14 honor is extra special, considering she is the first Falcon awarded the number since the 2009-10 season.
Eaton was inspired to begin the tradition by the phenomenal defense of Jenna Cerone during the 2005-06 season. The first two ceremonial No. 14s were future Wheaton College players Brooke Olson and Bri Graham. Both texted congratulations to Zander.
"Matti has been playing really well defensively for us," Eaton said. "It's really, really a neat thing. We've never had a sophomore wear it so it's impressive doing what she's doing. She's definitely earned it."
Mullaney dominated Tuesday's second quarter with 7 points and 4 rebounds. Mullaney has started the past few weeks after being among the first off the bench.
"Honestly, I just feel my role whenever I'm in the game is play hard, do my best," Mullaney said. "I don't really think anyone on our team has a specific role. Everyone's role is just to play hard."