Tigers give Panthers no breaks

Just because Glenbard North has been struggling to get wins doesn't mean Wheaton Warrenville South wasn't wary of the visiting Panthers on Thursday night.

The Tigers never trailed, but they had Glenbard North on their tail much of the night before walking off with a 42-37 DuPage Valley Conference girls basketball victory in Wheaton.

WW South (6-4, 3-1) forced 8 turnovers on its way to a 16-7 first-quarter lead, making 58 percent of their shots along the way.

"We got off to a good start," Tigers coach Rob Kroehnke said. "Good defense, good shooting. It's good to get a lead. You want to get a lead on these guys, that's for sure."

Glenbard North fought back in the second quarter, cutting the Tigers' lead to 1 late in the period.

"They're a scrappy bunch," Kroehnke said. "You don't want to get them mad. They obviously have not been winning, and they're not happy about it. And they'll get after you, and you have to take care of the ball.

"So we did a good job of taking care of the ball. I think we had (6) turnovers in the first half. I'll take that. We just have to work on our shot selection. That's the key."

Defense was the key for Glenbard North (1-9, 0-3), which committed just 8 turnovers and allowed just 29 percent shooting the final three quarters.

"We tried a lot of things on defense and settled on the man and played some pretty good man defense," Panthers coach Mark Glenn said. "But you can't come back in the third quarter and score only 3 points."

Despite scoring just those 3 third-quarter points, the Panthers stayed in the game by holding the Tigers to 7 for a 30-22 lead going into the final quarter. They got the lead back to double digits when Close started the fourth period with a bucket, but they never could put the Panthers away, in part because they were 3 of 15 at the free-throw line.

"We got some breathing room," Kroehnke said. "It made us feel a little more comfortable. Obviously, we have to make our free throws."

It was the seventh game this season the Panthers have lost by 6 points or fewer.

"The girls are staying positive, and that's the good thing," Glenn said. "They're keeping their heads up and they're battling … so we're right there. We're right there, we're right there and we're improving. It's just not showing up in the win column right now."

-- Orrin Schwarz

West Aurora 85, Naperville North 47:ŒThe good news for Kyra Watson was she set a new career high in scoring against Naperville North.

The bad news was she fell just 2 rebounds short of tying her career high on the boards.

Watson, a senior on West Aurora, scored 32 points and grabbed 25 rebounds in the Blackhawks' 85-47 win against Naperville North in DuPage Valley Conference action in Aurora.

"It was OK," Watson said with a laugh regarding her performance. "I was just trying to crash the boards. It's just what happened. I was working hard."

Watson also added 4 steals and 3 assists in her best game of the season.

"Unbelievable," Naperville North coach Jay Wachtel said of Watson, who posted her career rebounding high of 27 last year against the Huskies. "Very nice job by her."

"Love her to death," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl added of Watson. "She works so hard. When she sets goals in her mind, she is going to get them."

Watson was on fire right from the get-go. In the first quarter she scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. The rest of the Blackhawks (6-4, 2-1) were on as well, as they outscored the Huskies 28-10, including a pair of 8-0 runs.

"Offensively, they were patient, they worked the ball around," Siljendahl said. "We pushed the ball today, and they did a nice job of pushing the ball. They met some of the goals we set today."

"Total landslide," Wachtel added. "They just had so much more energy than us. It's like we were standing there watching them run by us … very nice job. Connie had them ready to play."

Things only got better for the Blackhawks as the game went on. They led by as much as 46-22 in the first half for a 49-27 lead at the break.

In the second half West Aurora saw its lead grow to 30-plus points in the third quarter, when it outscored Naperville North 22-7.

The Blackhawks' biggest lead of the game was 85-41 after a 3-pointer from Madison Whitt with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

For the Huskies (1-8, 1-3), Kaelyn Witkowski scored 13 points, Danielle Witkowski added 10 points and 6 rebounds while Erica Schertz scored 11 with 8 rebounds.

-- Christine Bolin

Lisle 48, Manteno 26:ŒThe Lions (5-7, 5-1) continued to roll through the Interstate Eight Conference, holding Manteno scoreless in the first quarter. Sara Urban led the Lions with 12 points, Megan Hannan added 11 and Elizabeth Todd 10.

Boys basketball

Elgin 67, Lake Park 57:ŒElgin senior guard Amari Williams knows the value of finding his offensive rhythm early in a game.

Williams found his stroke right off the bat for the Maroons in Roselle, leading Elgin past Lake Park for a 67-57 victory.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound Williams scored 11 points in the first quarter and 16 for the first half, sinking four 3-pointers that stretched out the Lake Park defense.

For the game Williams notched a season-high 27 points.

"(I was) just staying in rhythm and staying focused in the game," Williams said. "If it happens, it happens."

Elgin (5-1, 2-0 Upstate Eight Conference) felt comfortable in its ability to fill up the stat sheet on the offensive side of the ball. The Maroons defense, though, is what concerned first-year coach Michael Sitter.

Elgin surrendered 33 first-half points -- a number that Sitter knew his defense could improve upon in the second half. Sure enough, the Maroons ripped off an 11-0 run, fueled by an overall heightened intensity on defense.

"We're going to score points all season long," Sitter said. "If we decide to play defense we'll win games, if we don't play defense, we won't win games.

"The players took it among themselves just to pick up the intensity. We were the best athletes on the court; we just needed to show that."

Lake Park coach Cray Allen knew that Elgin would pick up its defense in the second half, with the Maroons finally seeing game action for the first time in nearly two weeks.

"I told our coach that I knew they'd come out in the second half after getting one half of basketball underneath their belts," Allen said. "They came out with a lot of pressure. As fast as they get it down the floor, and as poorly as we shoot the ball sometimes, all it takes is a couple misses on our end, a couple quick passes and 3-balls on their end, and a 2-point lead is now 8, 11, 14 (points)."

The Lancers (2-7, 0-3) crept within 5 points with 4:00 remaining in the game, as junior Jason Sotira came off the bench and nailed back-to-back 3s.

Elgin countered with its own strength off the pine, though, with junior Tom Roth sinking a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to push the Maroons lead back to double digits.

"Tommy's a natural leader," Sitter said. "He doesn't start for us, but he's always on the floor at the end of the game.

"It gives us a second point guard."

-- Matthew McClarey