Lisle earns chance to play on Friday
It took three years and a couple of anxious moments Tuesday but Natalie Takahashi is finally going to play on Friday night.
Takahashi scored 6 of her 12 points during a pivotal 60-second stretch of the fourth quarter and Lisle made 8 of its final 10 free throws to advance to Friday's championship game of the Class 2A Lisle regional with a 53-39 victory over Westmont.
Lisle (19-11) trailed 31-29 with 6:39 remaining in regulation when Takahashi scored on three straight drives to the basket to give the Lions the lead for keeps. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Nicole Cyranoski extended the home team's advantage to 45-35 and clutch free-throw shooting took care of the rest.
"I've never played on Friday night in a regional," said Takahashi, a 5-foot-6 junior guard and three-year varsity player. "We've lost in the first round each of the last two years. That was really good motivation. I really want to go as far as we can. I had to get my teammates pumped, and I think the energy chain-reacted. I did not come here tonight to lose."
But Lisle had to weather a little bit of adversity after squandering a 21-12 lead late in the second quarter and trailing 29-26 with 1:37 remaining in the third.
That's when Takahashi took over.
"I told Natalie that she's got to learn and she is learning to play at different speeds," said Lisle coach Nick Balaban. "There are times that she plays at one speed. She goes as hard and fast as she can. I told her she's got to walk the ball up and lull the defender, and then accelerate and use her go-to move.
"It took her a while to do that, but when she did she got to the rim three times in a row," the coach added. "If she can just get some penetration, even if she couldn't get always get to the rim, it's going to open up our shooters."
Sophomore McKenzie Weaver led Lisle with 14 points and 5 steals, TyAnn LeGrand-Melton added 11 points and 9 rebounds, Cyranoski had 9 points and Abbey Kretman added 7 points.
"I told the players the state playoffs are a whole different animal," Balaban said. "This is a rivalry game. It doesn't matter who has the better personnel or the better record. Any time rivals get together it's going to be a battle, and that's what it was."
Junior forward Sydney Pardy led Westmont (5-23) with 10 points and 9 rebounds, junior Kaitlyn Niemer added 9 points, and juniors Allie Kraft and Kailee Schacht each had 8 points.
"We lost to them by 18 points on Nov. 28, and the final score of today's game is not reflective of how close the game was," said Westmont coach Jeff Pearson. "We've improved by leaps and bounds. We just have to learn how important the little things are in close games, and that's what experience will do for you.
"Once we get that experience and improve our skills, we'll come back next year ready to fight and we'll win these close games," he added. "I'm confident of that."