Wheaton Academy lines up to claim victory

All the speed and athleticism in the world doesn't do much good when you're forced to stand still.

Hope (12-15) learned that during Thursday night's Class 3A Wheaton Academy regional title game. The host Warriors, who claimed their first regional crown in 10 years by winning 66-52, made 32 of 37 free throws while holding off a speedy Eagles squad that had won a one-sided affair with Wheaton Academy in last year's regional final.

Third-seeded Wheaton Academy shot a blistering 21 of 23 from the foul line while building a 37-24 lead on the Eagles after two quarters of play. Hope was whistled for 17 fouls in the first half and eventually had four players foul out, yet the Chicago school made a run at the Warriors in the second half before coming up short.

"Coach has been emphasizing free throws, and she told us that what would win the game was free throws and defense," said Warriors guard Jenn Lee, who was a perfect 11 of 11 from the line. "It was true. The free-throw line is a dangerous place when you're on."

Hope found that out all too often. The Eagles took 35 shots from the floor compared to just 19 by the hosts in the first half yet couldn't contend with the Warriors' 21-1 scoring edge from the line.

"I told my team at halftime that that was the game," Hope coach Kristin Moore said. "Free throws just killed us this game. All in all we came out and played well, but that's a good team and they made a lot of free throws."

Despite the foul woes, Hope pressured the Warriors into 6 third-quarter turnovers while closing the gap to 47-41. The Eagles got within 4 after Zakiya Blair opened the fourth quarter with a putback, but Wheaton Academy freshman Sydney Sharkey answered with a timely 3-pointer, and the Warriors used some more clutch shooting from the line down the stretch to secure the win and advance to Monday's sectional semifinal at Riverside-Brookfield.

"Oh, yeah, this feels good," said Alexa Sharkey, when asked if avenging last year's loss made the win sweeter. "We knew we had to take it to them, and we practiced free throws yesterday just in case."

Alexa Sharkey was 9 of 11 from the line while scoring a game-high 19 points and adding 8 rebounds. Meghan Grant connected on 9 of 10 foul shots while tallying 15 points for the Warriors (27-1).

"Our game plan was to try and play more disciplined, and obviously free throws were the key in the first half," Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell said. "You knew they were quick and you had to expect them to make a run because they have so many weapons. Thankfully, we were able to come away with a win."