Wheaton Academy 56, Simeon 45

Wheaton Academy's Alexa Sharkey didn't expect to run the fastbreak as much as she did Wednesday night, but she's sure glad it turned out that way.

Sharkey scored 25 points Wednesday night, many coming on the Warriors' press-break offense, as Wheaton Academy dispatched Simeon 56-45 in the opening round of the Class 3A Simeon regional in Chicago.

"The fastbreak and our awareness of each other on the court helped us," Sharkey said. "We didn't think we were going to have many (fastbreak opportunities) at all; we just thought we'd have to slow it down and work through our offense."

Wheaton Academy's (19-9) fastbreak chances came partly as a result of tough defense, as the Warriors hounded Simeon into 31 percent shooting on the night.

Wheaton Academy fell behind 13-9 after the first quarter but responded with a 16-6 run across the second to take a 25-19 lead at halftime.

According to Warriors coach Beth Mitchell, the press-break offense turned the game in their favor.

"Our press breaker really worked effectively," Mitchell said. "Getting Lex out on the press, kind of breaking down their defense and getting some 3-on-2, 2-on-1 opportunities … really made a huge difference for us."

Though the Warriors may not have expected to push the ball as frequently as they did, Mitchell possessed a clear game plan of how to break Simeon's press.

"Keep the ball in the middle of the floor. Move it effectively, recognize, read what's happening on the floor and try to get the ball up the middle," she said. "Once it was in the middle, I thought the press would be pretty much over."

Wheaton Academy took its first double-digit lead with 4:32 remaining in the game on junior Brit Zaderaka's jumper from the paint.

A pair of Sharkey free throws with 3:22 remaining put the Warriors ahead 50-38 and increased the amount of pressure on Simeon.

"She gives you it all every single game; she plays every single minute," Mitchell said of Sharkey. "She can go end line to end line, never asks to come out and just has great passion for what she's doing."

Wednesday's victory earned Wheaton Academy a date with top-ranked Hope Friday night back at Simeon.

"We know they're the No. 1 in the state," Sharkey said, "so we're just going to try to give them a good game."