Depth keeps Wheeling out of trouble
What consequences were there for Wheeling's girls basketball team when Illinois-bound star Lana Rukavina did not play because of a concussion and Purdue-bound Ashley Wilson was plagued by foul trouble and finished with 6 points?
None.
The state-ranked Wildcats showed their superb depth and walked away with a 66-42 Mid-Suburban East victory over Prospect (13-9, 4-3) at the Jean Walker Field House.
Wheeling (21-3, 6-1) was led by sophomores Janelle Cannon (22 points, 7 rebounds, 7 steals, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots) and Bianca Szafarowicz (15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists).
Wilson picked up 3 fouls in the first quarter while scoring 4 points and sat out the second quarter. But the Wildcats managed to gradually pull away to a 28-10 lead with less than five minutes in the first half.
Two free throws by Megan Murray got the Knights to within 14-10 before the visitors went on a 14-0 run.
Cannon's steal and layup started the big rally capped by Natasha Robinson's layup.
"I don't think some of the fouls called on Ashley are acceptable but our kids did a good job battling it (when she was on the bench)," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel. "Our other kids really did a nice job opening up the lead without Ashley. And I thought our junior varsity girls did a nice job at the end against their starters."
Senior Jessie Smith added 6 points for Wheeling while Stephanie Kuzmanic and Lindsey Mills each added 4.
"Even at practices, it's fun because we can put together two strong teams," Smith said. "So we knew without Ashley on the floor, we could still do it. And even with Tash (Robinson, who fouled out in the final quarter), we still played well at the end."
Megan Murray led Prospect with 15 points while Rachel Hunt added 8.
"I thought Megan did a great job stepping up," said Knights coach Martha Kelly, who will have to miss Friday's game at Hersey after being assessed 2 technical fouls early in the fourth quarter. "She wasn't afraid of them and didn't back down.
"Rachel Hunt also did a good job and kept taking it to Ashley Wilson. That's a sign of growing up."
Cannon scored 10 points in the final quarter.
"We showed good chemistry no matter who was on the floor," Kuzmanic added. "Because our bench is so deep we knew we could fill the spot when we didn't have Ashley."