Lake Park gets 3-pointers to fall

Lake Park junior Carson Vance sank four 3-pointers on Saturday.

That came as no surprise.

What was surprising, even astounding, was what her teammates did. The Lancers shot 13 of 26 from beyond the arc and cruised to a 72-34 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Waubonsie Valley in Aurora.

"They shot lights-out," Waubonsie Valley coach Dave Owles said. "We didn't feel like our defense early on was that bad.

"They just made everything. All credit to them."

Katherine Kirkham opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and Camryn James sank another on the next possession.

James scored 10 of her personal-high 15 points in the first quarter, while Daina Riser added 8 of her 10 and Kirkham 6 of her 8 as the Lancers (6-13, 4-5) surged to a 29-12 lead.

"I just kind of went off," James said. "We all did, actually."

James hit 5 of her first 7 attempts, including two 3-pointers. She left the game with 4:23 to go in the third quarter with the Lancers up 55-21.

"Cam's coming around," Lake Park coach Brian Rupp said. "We've been waiting for people to step up other than Carson to fill the role of scorer.

"Something's working. We've got people that are willing to take shots right now and they're falling. It's been a long time since we've scored this many points."

Indeed, the Lancers registered a season-high point total in winning back-to-back games for just the second time. Their previous high was 55, also against Waubonsie.

"I think we were just feeling high and once you get on that high you just kind of keep going," Vance said. "It's motivation for the team when everyone's hitting. It's just a good feeling."

Vance finished with 14 points to go with 4 steals and 4 assists. Madison Race added 9 points, all on 3-pointers, Sarah Ludwig scored 8 and Kirkham chipped in 6 assists.

"We had a few too many turnovers offensively, but (even) if we take care of the ball, I don't know that we have the firepower to compete with someone shooting that well," Owles said. "It can be discouraging when you're out challenging a shot and they drain another one."

Jabria Dampier and Gina Palasz each scored 9 points to pace Waubonsie (4-13, 1-7), which committed 27 turnovers. All but 4 of those points came in the second half after the game was out of reach.