Tigers, Falcons win at Wheaton Shootout
Wheaton's DuPage Valley Conference representatives each had great success in this year's Wheaton Shootout.
In the girls basketball opener Wheaton Warrenville South stopped Wheaton Academy 45-29. The second of the evening's games went to Wheaton North, a 55-31 victor over Shootout host St. Francis.
In WW South's victory, improved offensive movement combined with dominant rebounding helped the Tigers (5-4) to their victory over Wheaton Academy (5-4).
"We haven't seen too many zones," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "We didn't shoot particularly well in the first half. I felt we could have shot better if we had more ball movement."
The Tigers began a killing run late in the first half, moving from a 12-11 deficit to a 33-15 halftime edge -- a margin that grew to 37-25 after three quarters.
Sarah Langlas was dominant for the Tigers with 14 points and 18 rebounds.
"Offensive rebounds were just huge," Kroehnke said.
Overall, WW South outrebounded Wheaton Academy 38-23, though the disparity was worse in the second and third quarters.
"We struggled with boxing out," Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell said. "It's something we need to work on, but that was, for me, the difference in the game."
When Langlas' offense waned, Taylor Nieling got hot. She scored 8 of her 11 points in the third quarter.
"Taylor Nieling has been playing awesome leading the offense," Kroehnke said. "I can't take her off the floor. Last year she was on the floor because she needed to take care of the ball and play defense. We had shooters. Now she's had to step up in that role, and she's done a nice job with it."
Alexa Sharkey led Wheaton Academy with 12 points.
Wheaton North (6-2) tore open a close game in the second quarter. Leading 16-14 after the first quarter, the Falcons outscored St. Francis 13-1 heading into halftime.
"We take great pride in our defense," Wheaton North coach David Eaton said. "We wanted to make sure we came out and played a good defensive game."
St. Francis (4-5) went nearly 12 minutes in the contest without a field goal. By the time Maggie O'Toole broke that drought 90 seconds into the third quarter, Wheaton North was well on its way to victory.
"We scored 1 point in the second quarter," St. Francis coach Leslie Fay-Dehn said. "They're a really quick team and we were not getting back on defense. Credit their defense, and we missed a lot of shots. Off of that, they got a lot of fastbreaks."
The Falcons used their entire bench and had balanced scoring. Madison Goudy led all scorers with 14 points. Allie Cerone added 11 points, Michelle Scandora had 10 points while Jamei Shin added 9 points.
"The nice thing for us is that there's not one person who's a go-to person," Eaton said. "All these kids can consistently score. It's nice, because we have so many options."
Catherine Culligan scored 7 points to lead St. Francis.
-- Darryl Mellema
Downers Grove South 57, Willowbrook 53:ŒThe duo of Lauren Lisauskas and Gianna Pecora just would not allow the Downers Grove South girls basketball team to lose Saturday night against Willowbrook.
Whenever the game got too close for comfort, the two juniors stepped up and made a play as the Mustangs (5-4) won 57-53.
Lisauskas was a monster on the boards, snatching 19 rebounds to go along with her 19 points. Eleven of those 19 rebounds came on the offensive end.
"I could care less about the points," Downers South coach Michael McGinnis said. "She was just tremendous on the glass tonight. I hope this is something we will see many times more this season."
Lisauskas seemed bewildered by her rebounding total and had a simple answer for grabbing so many rebounds.
"I was just trying to get to the ball and either tap it back out or grab it," Lisauskas said. "I was just ball hungry tonight and wanted to help the team out. When I got the ball I just looked to kick it out or get the ball to a guard."
Pecora was big in the first half, supplying her team with plenty of scoring as she scored 14 of her 19 points in that half. She also hit four of her five 3-pointers in the first half.
Pecora's scoring allowed Downers South to open up a 33-18 halftime lead.
"She is a great guard and leader for this team," McGinnis said. "She did lots of great things for us in the first half and carried a large load."
Despite being down by 15 points, the Warriors (5-5) came out in the second half looking like a different team. After trading a few baskets, Willowbrook went on an 18-2 run to cut the deficit to 40-36.
"We have a good mix of players on this team," Willowbrook coach Troy Nelson said. "We executed a little better for a stretch in the second half, but we just couldn't get over that hump."
In the fourth quarter Lisauskas iced the game on the foul line. With a 55-53 lead and under five seconds remaining, Lisauskas calmly sank both free throws to make it virtually impossible for Willowbrook to tie.
"Everybody was telling me, 'no pressure, no pressure,' " she said. "I tried to convince myself that there was no pressure, but there was. I felt it in my stomach. I just tried to make everyone disappear on the line and pretend it was practice. It must have worked because I made both."
Collette Williams scored a game-high 19 points in the loss.
-- Jason Watt
Geneva 67, West Chicago 39:ŒAfter having early-season winning streaks snapped by West Chicago the past two years, Geneva's girls basketball team made sure there would be no three-peat.
Thanks in part to relentless defensive pressure and 64 percent first-half shooting, the Vikings stormed out to a 41-19 halftime advantage and cruised to a 67-39 nonconference victory over the Wildcats Saturday afternoon in Geneva.
While the Wildcats slipped to 0-10 overall, the Vikings improved to 9-0 and assured themselves of an unbeaten record heading into Friday's Western Sun Conference clash at Batavia (7-0).
"Now we've got all week to work on Batavia," said junior guard Taylor Whitley, who led the Vikings with 13 points despite playing only 13 minutes due to foul trouble.
Less than 24 hours after knocking off DeKalb, Geneva showed few signs of rust, forcing 10 Wildcats first-quarter turnovers while opening a 21-10 lead.
"Last night they really picked up the defensive intensity and it carried over into today," said Vikings coach Gina Nolan. "We have a dance here tonight -- that's why we had to play an afternoon game. But they're young -- they can handle it."
Nicole Gregory and Olivia Laster combined for 14 of the Vikings' 21 first-quarter points.
Geneva hit 8 of its first 12 shots in an opening quarter that included 6 layups, 7 steals and 8 assists.
Things didn't get much better in the second quarter for the Wildcats, who were outscored 20-9 to fall behind by 22 points at the intermission.
Jessica Baids provided a bright spot for the Wildcats, scoring 10 of her team-high 15 points in the first half.
"They're a very quick team and their matchup zone gave us trouble," said Wildcats coach Kim Wallner. "Our turnovers hurt, but I'm bothered more by any kind of a defensive presence in our team right now.
"We gave up 70 points in each game this week. Again, some of it is from turnovers but we aren't defending in the halfcourt either."
All 15 Vikings players saw action, and 11 scored. Kat Yelle headed the list of reserves with 8 points, while Myra Yelle and Sam Scofield each added 7.
"We had three sophomores and two freshmen on the floor at one point in the third quarter," said Nolan, whose team led 65-27 midway through the fourth quarter. "We're very fortunate to have that depth off the bench."
The Vikings also got to the free-throw line with regularity, making 25 of a season-high 35 attempts.
"That's better because last night we were 11 of 23 (at the line)," Nolan said. "We've had some games where we only got to the line five or six times."
-- Craig Brueske
Timothy Christian 50, St. Joseph 49:ŒLindsay VanderBrug's buzzer-beater lifted the Trojans (5-4) to victory in the nonconference game.
VanderBrug and Kelly Buma each scored 12 points to lead the winners.
Warren 50, Lake Park 33:ŒLake Park (8-2) scored fewer than 50 points for the first time this season and paid the price with a loss.
Samantha Arnold had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 blocks for the Lancers, who shot 29 percent from the field.
Hinsdale Central 52, Lyons 24:ŒToni Kokenis poured in 19 of her 21 points in the first half and Molly Kinsella finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds in West Suburban Silver Conference action to keep the Red Devils (9-0, 3-0) undefeated.
Elk Grove 61, Addison Trail 50:ŒThe Blazers (2-9) saw three players score in double figures, but it wasn't enough. Jenn Schulmeister led the way with 13 points, Jasmine Little scored 12 and Erica Spear finished with 10 in the nonconference loss.
Trinity 56, Glenbard West 38:ŒNicole Hazemi led Glenbard West (5-6) in scoring with 11 points in the nonconference meeting.
Proviso East 68, Hinsdale South 55:ŒProviso East (6-3, 3-0) used a 26-7 second quarter to go up 38-22 at halftime on the way to a West Suburban Gold Conference win.
Chloe Harris topped Hinsdale South (6-4, 3-1) in scoring with 18, while Joanna Giampoli contributed 12 and Teresa McDonald chipped in 10.