Energized Lake Park clears first UEC hurdle

Lake Park had no shortage of motivation for Friday's game at Waubonsie Valley.

The Lancers played like it, too.

Six days after their worst loss of the season, the Lancers took it to the defending Upstate Eight Conference champion in a 54-46 win in Aurora.

Lake Park (15-5, 5-0) cleared hurdle one in a two-weekend gauntlet that should decide the conference title. The Lancers host St. Charles North, also unbeaten in the Upstate Eight, next Saturday.

"We talked after last Saturday's loss to New Trier, that we knew we had a couple big weeks ahead of us," Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said, "and the first big one was Waubonsie. We knew what we had to bring tonight. They executed very nicely, and I'm proud and excited for them."

Lake Park scored the first 9 points and led 15-3 after a quarter even with Samantha Arnold held scoreless. Sarah Drozdowski had 5 points and Devin Johnston 4 in the first eight minutes.

"We came out with so much energy," Johnston said. "This whole week has been about preparing for Waubonsie and beating them."

The Lancers threw a wrinkle at Waubonsie Valley defensively, mixing in a big dose of man-to-man to go with their signature matchup zone. Either defense was stifling. Waubonsie Valley missed its first 11 shots and shot just 4 of 31 for the first half, digging a 28-13 hole at the break.

"We wanted to keep Waubonsie on their toes as much as we can," Fruehling said. "By playing that man-to-man defense our intensity did come up a little bit. It kept us live on our feet."

"We had some open 3s and open layups, and we didn't convert. That put us in a hole immediately," Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas said. "We were very stagnant offensively. I don't know what to attribute that to."

Waubonsie Valley (15-5, 5-2) sliced the margin to 36-28 by the end of the third quarter, Kiki McClellan knocking down a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

But Arnold made two free throws and a turnaround jumper to start the fourth quarter to stem the tide, and her 3-pointer with 3:56 left made it 46-32 to put a final nail in. Arnold scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, and she also pulled down 13 rebounds in the game.

She gave an assist to Johnston, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Drozdowski, who scored 15 points.

"It's awesome when the girls can come down and hit shots," Arnold said. "It makes it a lot easier for me working inside."

Keiera Ray had 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Rachel Bostick 11 points and 13 rebounds for Waubonsie Valley.