IC Catholic jumps over .500 mark
For a girls basketball team that has been up and down all winter, IC Catholic Prep has finally found some consistency.
Running their win streak to three games, the Knights climbed above the .500-mark with a 48-39 victory over Wheaton Academy in a Metro Suburban Blue matchup on Thursday in Elmhurst.
"The girls are excited," ICCP coach Kelsey James said. "We've been back and forth all year. When we finally put two or three games together and win, it's amazing how excited they get about the win streak. It's nice to see things clicking. For the most part you can see each game we are getting better."
The home team never trailed in the contest, jumping out to an early 13-4 lead before carrying that 9-point advantage into halftime at 27-18.
Claire Gibler then got hot in the third quarter, knocking down four straight shots including a pair of 3-pointers to increase the margin to double figures.
"Without my teammates' passing and looking up the court," Gibler said, "I don't think I would have gotten the shots I got. That was a good win. It's been a roller coaster, but we are definitely getting our offense set up more and are running things we need to run. And Coach has been on us about defense and we are getting better with that too."
Gibler finished with a game-high 19 points for IC Catholic (13-12, 5-7). Jaida Smith and Tess Reardon had 7 points apiece.
Emily Renn tallied 12 points for Wheaton Academy (11-16, 4-8), which had nine players score and 10 grab rebounds. Lizzy Swoboda chipped in with 7 points.
The Warriors did have a special moment when senior Meredith Bult became the program's all-time leader in 3-pointers with her 58th make late in the fourth. She also posted 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.
"Last year I think she averaged, like, four and a half points," Wheaton Academy coach Tory Gum said. "To come out and have this kind of season from the 3-point line and also defensively, that's great.
"Offensively, we haven't had a game like that for a little while. We've been playing well the last couple of weeks, but some nights you will have that offensively."