Wildcats keep firing behind Cannon's play
One main concern for Wheeling's girls basketball team Tuesday night was suffering a letdown following a victory over the third-ranked team in Class 4A just three days earlier.
The Wildcats put those worries to rest quickly as they raced to a 10-0 lead at Hoffman Estates and never looked back in a 55-36 Mid-Suburban League crossover triumph.
Janelle Cannon had her teammates looking back for passes all night as the 5-foot-9 junior guard handed out 12 assists while also scoring 16 points.
"She finds everyone who's open, no matter where they are," said Wildcats senior Ashley Wilson, who scored a game-high 18 points with 6 rebounds. "You might not even know you're open. And you're like, 'Oh, here's the ball.'"
Cannon was zipping fantastic passes left and right Tuesday.
Among the beneficiaries were Stephanie Kuzmanic (9 points), Bianca Szafarowicz (6), Bridgette Gray (4) and Selma Smajlovic (2).
"Janelle is the best natural guard I've had here," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel, whose team is 7-0 and ranked No. 4 in Class 4A. "And we've had some good ones here who are playing at the college level. But we kind of converted them into point guards. Janelle is a natural. She's so smart and sees the floor so well."
Megan Bernardoni, Megan Fischer and Jada Stotts each scored 10 points for Hoffman Estates, which lost for the first time in six games.
Bernardoni's 3-pointer cut the early lead in half (10-5) but Cannon handed out a few assists and hit a 3 with five seconds left to give the Wildcats a 20-9 lead after one quarter.
"She keeps her head in the game," Bernardoni said of the Wildcats' floor leader. "She's always looking to pass. You try to watch her eyes but she's so good at faking."
Cannon said the key to the Wildcats' win was patience and getting her teammates involved.
"I used to get in trouble for passing too much," said Cannon, who also had 4 steals and 2 rebounds. "But I know I have to contribute with scoring, too."
Hoffman scored its fewest points of the season.
"We got beat by a very good team," said Hawks coach Mike Nocella. "To get down 10-0 and play catchup is hard against good team. We played almost even with them for the middle quarters. We rebounded well. But we took ourselves our of our offense.
"She (Cannon) is so quick. She can dish off or go to the hoop."
Cannon even popped in a 23-foot 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer for a 42-26 lead.
"Her passing abilities are amazing," Wiegel added. "Sometimes she misses assists because she'll make such a great pass and we don't anticipate well enough.
"I was worried about a little letdown after our Fenwick win (82-72 Saturday for the championship of Niles North tourney). And I was worried about the quieter gym here. At home, we're used to a lot more noise because we always get a lot of fans at home."
Cannon's play provided quite a bit of noise, though, Tuesday.