West Chicago wins third straight

It's never too early in a season to enjoy success. Just ask the West Chicago girls basketball team.

Tuesday night's 54-22 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory over visiting Elgin was the Wildcats' third straight win, putting them at 4-3 overall. The team has surpassed last season's victory total of three.

"It's nice. I mean we're still young and we have a lot of juniors," said Wildcats coach Kim Wallner. "Our confidence wavers because we haven't built up the tradition of expecting to win. But that takes a while. It was a little ugly tonight, but we keep getting better."

The game's outcome was solidified very early. West Chicago led 15-0 after the first eight minutes and 22-5 at halftime. The Wildcats shot 6 of 19 from the field in the first quarter and were paced by Sierra Koenig's 8 points. She finished the game with 11, as did teammate Sofia Radice.

Koenig left the game with 4:35 left in the third due to an injured left ankle. Wallner said she is "day-to-day." West Chicago is back in action Thursday at Hinsdale South.

A total of 10 Wildcats scored against the Maroons.

"That's nice for us. That has not always been there," Wallner said. "We go deeper this year. The kids have responded coming off the bench."

Elgin (2-3) got its offense going in the third quarter with a 15-point showing on 4-of-12 shooting from the field. Maribel Gonzalez's basket ended the third period with the Maroons within 14.

"I told them that they needed to be more aggressive getting to the basket. I thought that didn't happen in the first half," said Elgin coach Nick Bumbales. "We were not physical on defense. West Chicago was getting a lot of second and third chances in the first half. They were killing us on the boards."

Bumbales and associate coach Scott Stewart encouraged the team to learn from the game and have a good practice Wednesday before opening Upstate Eight Conference River Division play Thursday at Batavia.

"We're a young team, lots of sophomores and juniors and just three seniors," Bumbales said.

The Wildcats turned on the afterburners in the fourth quarter, outscoring Elgin 20-2 to put the finishing touches on the victory. Radice and Amanda Dutchman led their team with 6 points each in the quarter.