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Wheaton Academy stop Addison Trail

Lizzy Swoboda does a little bit of everything for Wheaton Academy. She scores, she rebounds and she makes sure her teammates are in the right position on the court.

Saturday in the consolation championship game of the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic, Swoboda exhibited all her skills, scoring 16 points, collecting 9 rebounds and adding a steal and an assist as Wheaton Academy defeated Addison Trail 49-35.

"She plays every position," said first-year Wheaton Academy coach Erin Carwell. "She's verbal. She leads the team when we're down. It's her voice I hear. She's dependable. She works hard. It's been a privilege to watch her grow as the season goes on."

Swoboda, listed at 5-foot-10, is the tallest starter on the Wheaton Academy roster. She often finds herself matched against taller players under the basket.

"She's not the biggest player out there and she's competing against 6-foot post players and just working her butt off and doing a fantastic job," Carwell said. "I'm really, really proud of her."

Swoboda rallied the Warriors after Addison Trail cut what had been a 12-point deficit to 28-20 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter. The 5-10 senior scored on a rebound, hit a short shot off the glass and scored on an inbounds pass as part of a 16-4 run to close the period.

"Our guards did a great job of bringing the ball up," Swoboda said. "(Addison Trail) had a soft trap. The guards brought it up and found people in the gaps. That's what set this game apart from previous games.

"I started off this tournament rough, but the goal is to work in the post and work the ball in and out," she added. "I try to get everybody in the right spots. They did do a good job being where they needed to be."

Rachael Bermudez added 14 points and four 3-pointers for Wheaton Academy (9-7), while sophomore Imani Hillmer added 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Junior Brenda Berumen led Addison Trail (6-7) with 8 points, while Berenice Berumen was 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.

"We were missing two seniors who start for us (Nicci Scorza and Vincenza Zaccaro), who play a lot of minutes for us and do a lot of scoring for us," said Addison Trail coach Rob Schader. "We're not talented enough to miss a couple of kids like that and be successful.

"After we got the lead down to 8, we just fell apart," he added. "We had a lot of unforced turnovers, missed a bunch of free throws and gave them a bunch a wide open 3s. That's what happened there."

The victory wrapped up a 3-1 tournament for the Warriors, who face Cage Classic finalist Walther Christian and Wheaton North champion Glenbard South early in the new year.

"It was important to finish with a win," Swoboda said. "It's been a long week. We're going into a series of harder games, so it's good to come out of (this tournament) with this win."

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