Driscoll learns to handle with care

It's amazing what the Driscoll girls basketball team can do when it takes care of the ball.

A game after committing 23 turnovers in the first half of a blowout loss at Montini, the Highlanders regrouped at home and returned to the kind of ball that has them enjoying their best season in years.

By taking much better care of the ball, Driscoll allowed its inside game and outside shooting to take effect, resulting in a 59-44 triumph over Suburban Catholic Conference opponent St. Francis on Tuesday night in Addison.

This time the Highlanders (15-4, 6-3) turned over the ball just three times in the first half while building a 25-18 lead.

After St. Francis (9-11, 1-8) pulled within 25-21 on Chrissy Belniak's 3-pointer, the Highlanders went on a shooting spree. They canned six 3-pointers in the second half and opened a 20-point lead.

The home team shot 72 percent from the field in the final two quarters to rise to 50 percent for the game.

Courtney Lindfors connected for a game-high 16 points for the winners. Taylor Reaber made three 3-pointers in the third quarter and finished with 15 points, while Allie Divito added 12 points.

"This was definitely a game we needed just to get our spirits back," said Driscoll point guard Gigi DiGrazia, who registered 6 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. "The locker room Saturday was not happy. It looked like family members just died, it was that upsetting. But we needed a game like this to get our confidence back."

The Highlanders were coming off their first back-to-back losses of the season.

"You don't know how your kids are going to react," Driscoll coach Steve McCuiston said. "I think being at home helped. You wonder if maybe you start to lose a little bit of confidence even though we recognize the type of opponent we played, but overall I'm happy with the victory. We're feeling a little bit better about ourselves."

Jamie Stefely's 14 points paced St. Francis.

The Spartans did well to hang with Driscoll as long as they did without Catherine Culligan. The all-area senior guard is "probably" out for the season" with mononucleosis.

"It's obviously a tough blow with Catherine being out," St. Francis coach Leslie Fay-Dehn said. "It's our second game without her, and we haven't had a lot of practice time. … The kids actually I thought played really well. (Driscoll) got hot in the second half."