Downers Grove South drops Willowbrook

After two weeks off Downers Grove South was ready to play a girls basketball game.

The Mustangs left host Willowbrook ready to regroup after a 54-26 defeat of the Warriors in a West Suburban Gold game on Saturday.

"We've been doing a lot of practicing," Mustangs coach Lyndsie Long said. "Our schedule is a little different this year with a long break between our Thanksgiving tournament and opening the conference series here. But we've been working extremely hard in practice defensively and executing our plays on offense, and it really showed today."

The Mustangs (2-3, 1-0) broke the game open early, taking an early 12-2 lead on sophomore Holly Lueken's easy drive down the lane for a layup. By the end of the first quarter, the Mustangs led 17-4. At halftime it was 28-13.

Downers Grove South had a height advantage, but the Warriors hoped to see an advantage in quickness.

"They had obvious deficiencies that we should have been able to take advantage of, which we didn't," Harrell said. "We had obvious deficiencies they should have been able to take advantage of, i.e., we're small and quick. They're tall. They can go inside, but on the perimeter, we should win the perimeter. We got some turnovers, but we couldn't hang with them. We couldn't shoot."

The Mustangs didn't have that shooting problem.

"We really did have quite a bit of a height advantage, but we didn't work the ball inside as much as we thought we would just because our plays were working and we were getting good looks at the basket," Long said. "It was to our advantage for sure as far as rebounding and defensively."

Willowbrook made just 4 of 28 first-half shots, 9 of 58 for the game. The Mustangs were part of the reason, blocking 7 first-half shots.

"It was not a good game," Harrell said.

Downers Grove South put four starters in double digits - Lueken, senior Kasandra Rugenius and junior Jennifer Masello each scored 11 points, and senior Addyson Wesolowski added 10 - something that pleased Long.

"All five of my starters have been meshing well together," Long said. "I told them I'd love to see four of you in double digits. That was the goal, and they've been really working on sharing the ball and playing team basketball."

Sophomore Katelyn McCann led the Warriors in scoring with 9 points off the bench, and fellow reserve Hannah Konrath added 7.

The Warriors hope to get senior Kelssie Kraabel back from an ankle sprain by Christmas.

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