Cannon connects as Wheeling prevails
When Wheeling girls basketball standout Ashley Wilson had to take a seat on the Wheeling bench with her fourth foul early in third quarter, teammate Janelle Cannon took a new mindset.
"When Ashley is out, I know I have to step up to the plate and do what I have to do," she said.
Cannon stepped up and hit a home run.
The 5-foot-9 junior point guard proceeded to hit 11 straight free throws and help the Class 4A No. 4-ranked Wildcats overcome a 47-43 deficit en route to an 82-72 victory over No. 3-ranked Fenwick for the championship of the sixth annual Niles North Tournament.
Fenwick won the first five tourneys.
Cannon (12-of-14 at the line) did more than just fire perfect free throws.
She drove, dished and defended her way to a game-high 25 points, 7 assists, 7 steals and 6 rebounds as the Wildcats ran their record to 6-0 (5-0 in the tourney) while Fenwick dropped to 4-1.
"I thought you were going to drive the bus home, too," a pleased Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel told Cannon after the contest. "You took care of so much."
And Wiegel liked what the rest of her Wildcats did to notch their second win in two years over the Friars at Niles North High School.
Bianca Szafarowicz (21 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), Wilson (20 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in 26 minutes) and Stephanie Kuzmanic (12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 blocked shot) also scored in double digits.
The two teams traded baskets furiously most of the way, before the Wildcats put the game out of reach midway through the final quarter.
A 3-pointer by Tricia Liston (22 points) gave Fenwick a 63-61 lead with 5:10 left in the game.
But Wheeling went on an 18-2 run, getting many of those baskets by finding a player at the end of the fastbreak for a layup. Szafarowicz had five layups during the big rally.
Bridgette Gray's layup with 1:28 left put Wheeling ahead 79-65.
"When Ashley went out, we said we all just have to give 110 percent," Szafarowicz said. "That's when everything clicked."
Junior Katlyn Payne led Fenwick with 26 points.
Liston picked up her fourth foul with 1:04 left in the third quarter and didn't return until midway through the fourth.
"When Tricia got her fourth foul, that hurt us," said Fenwick coach Dave Power. "When Wheeling got the lead, they were able to slow down the pace and that turned the tide. And we did not take advantage when Ashley Wilson was out for them."
"Wheeling is a very good team and when they got ahead, we got frustrated and scared," Payne said. "It really showed. We've got to learn when we have a lead, we have to stay calm."