Wheeling's left reeling

Whitney Young girls basketball coach Corry Irvin was asked if the Dolphins' top-ranked Class 4A team is the best in her eight seasons.

After a 75-53 triumph over No. 2-ranked Wheeling (21-1) on Monday night at the McDonald's Shootout at Willowbrook, Irvin didn't want to go that far.

Young sure didn't look too far different from its team that won the Class 4A state title in 2008.

The Dolphins (21-1) seemed to get to the basket quick and often Monday as sophomore guard Chanise Jenkins led the way with a game-high 23 points and 11 assists.

Pittsburgh-bound Ashlee Anderson (5-foot-9) was next with 14 points and 6 rebounds followed by 6-2 Eastern Illinois recruit Mariah King (13 points) and 6-foot Ohio University signee Porsha Harris (12 points).

"It has the potential to be out best team," Irvin did say.

Two free throws by junior Stephanie Kuzmanic (8 points) gave the Wildcats a 10-9 lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

But the Dolphins closed the quarter with a 7-0 run getting a fastbreak layup and 6-foot baseline jumper by 6-foot senior Kara Smith and a 3-pointer by Anderson.

By half, Young led 36-23.

"This was a good win for us because there was a lot of anticipation for this game," Anderson said. "We've got a lot to work on but it was nice to be able to give them their first loss.

"We wanted to shut down Ashley Wilson and Janelle Cannon because we know they have been strong players. We tried to pick up their moves and I felt we did a good job on both of them."

Wilson led the Wildcats with 19 points and Cannon added 18.

Junior guard Bianca Szafarowicz, returning from an ankle injury which sidelined her last Friday at Prospect, added 8 points for the Wildcats.

Szafarowicz said she was not 100 percent on the ankle, still feeling pain.

"Whitney Young is really talented and quick," added the junior guard, who averages 16 points. "But this shows us what we need to work on."

Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel hopes the Wildcats learn from the loss.

"If we band together from this, then it will help us," she said. "If the kids are ready to move on, then something good can happen from it. We'll have to see. It depends on how they come to practice (today)."

Nationally-ranked Whitney Young came to Willowbrook with just one loss to Heritage Christian High School in Indianapolis.

The Dolphins have played six teams from out of state.

"I think being exposed to different styles of those teams helps us when we come back to play in Illinois," Irvin said.

"Our main goal against Wheeling was to not let either Ashley or Janelle go crazy on us and make sure they worked hard for everything they got."

Kuzmanic was hit in the mouth with 4:06 left in the third quarter and did not return until the fourth quarter.

"She got cut inside the mouth," Wiegel said. "She might need stitches, we are not sure.

"Whitney Young is an athletic team," the coach added. "And we didn't do the things we've been doing to get us to this point. We just did not have five players playing offense or defense together."

Wilson finished with 16 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocked shots and an assist while Cannon had 8 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocked shots and 2 rebounds.

"We just weren't getting back on defense," Cannon said. "We needed to play defense, period. And we weren't scoring. They are quick and they run their plays well. They have great chemistry with each other."