Lisle roughed up by tough Wheaton Academy defense

Lisle's girls basketball squad learned a tough lesson Tuesday night at Wheaton Academy, yet coach Jeff Javior was not complaining at all afterward.

Javior's Lions were roughed up from the opening tip and fell 68-25 to a Warriors squad that has won four of five games. Wheaton Academy (4-2) forced 12 first-quarter turnovers while jumping out to a 20-6 lead and kept up the pace with a 21-5 second quarter for a 30-point lead at the intermission.

"We needed this to find out exactly where we are. I couldn't thank Beth (Mitchell) enough," Javior said in reference to Warriors coach Beth Mitchell. "This is a team that doesn't remember the tradition we had in the past. They don't remember the winning we've experienced."

Wheaton Academy, on the other hand, is playing the kind of defense that should lead to many wins this season. Guard Alexa Sharkey had a big night with a game-high 23 points and 4 steals, but she was not alone. Fellow guard Leah Fortune also had 4 steals and Meghan Grant and Kayla Lindstedt each blocked a pair of shots.

"We played as a team and we knew where each other was on the court," said Sharkey, a 5-foot-9 sophomore. "I didn't expect this to be such a blowout. We were just on from the beginning, even in warm-ups."

Sharkey connected on all 6 of her shots from the floor in the second quarter, most of which came in transition. She had 15 of her 23 points through two quarters, outscoring the Lions 15-11 by herself in the half.

"I thought our quickness and our half-court defense was pretty good," Mitchell said. "And our transition game, with three quick guards, was pretty tough. Alexa is just a special player. On defense she covers a lot of ground."

But Sharkey had plenty of help against Lisle. Kristine Egebrecht had 6 points and 9 rebounds, Grant had 7 points and a steal to go with her 2 blocks, and Brit Zaderaka had 8 points off the bench.

"Even when we subbed I thought we executed well," Mitchell said. "It was just a great team win."

For Lisle, points were hard to come by due to the number of turnovers. But center Elizabeth Todd did have 5 rebounds and 2 steals, and Danielle Fernette and Sara Urban each scored 4 points and Katie Highland dropped in a 3-pointer.

"It's a good learning experience for all of them," Javior said of his young team. "We need to learn together, myself included."