Wildcats' swat of LZ impressive

As if shot out of a cannon, Janelle Cannon soared and swatted Olivia Allen's shot, bouncing it into the court and out of bounds, leaving a divot, I believe.

This doesn't happen, mind you.

Allen is Lake Zurich's mega-athletic, Bradley University-bound guard with big-time hops. She stands 5 feet 5 but can soar above 6-footers.

"My shoes make me taller," Allen said, managing a grin after her team's 28-win season ended with a 57-39 loss to Wheeling in the Class 4A Barrington sectional final Thursday night.

Wheeling's Cannon stands three or four inches taller than Allen, however, and possesses equally amazing athleticism.

Allen has had a shot of hers blocked before.

"Not like that," she admitted of Cannon's super swat. "That was like a whole bring it down all the way down to the ground. She's a good player."

Wheeling is a great team, as its 31-1 record attests. Cannon's shot block hinted that it wasn't going to be Lake Zurich's night.

And when Allen missed all 4 of her shots in the first quarter - after going 13 of 15 from the floor two nights earlier - there just wasn't a good vibe for the Bears.

Lake Zurich didn't need to score 82 points and get 32 from Allen, as it did in Tuesday's semifinal win over Mundelein, but the Bears needed to take care of the basketball and finish near the basket.

Thanks to Cannon and the physically powerful Ashley Wilson - who's the Purdue-bound pivot - the Wildcats made it tough on the Bears.

Lake Zurich committed 17 turnovers, 8 in the fourth quarter, after trailing just 41-34 after three.

The Bears were within 36-34 after Audrey Bauer scored with 2:45 left in the third, but got outscored 21-5 the rest of the way, and that included a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Jenna Froehlich.

"We got within 2, we had the momentum," Lydia Bauer said. "Wheeling made a few key plays and we never really got back into the swing of things. We tried our hardest in the fourth quarter but they just pulled away."

So it was goodbye 11-game winning streak. Goodbye season.

Two years ago, as a No. 14 seed, the Bears pulled off three postseason upsets to advance to the Rolling Meadows sectional final, where they lost to Buffalo Grove.

"We've been here twice in the last three years knocking on the door to get one more, but can't knock it down," coach Chris Bennett said. "And now we got our work cut out for us, because we graduate pretty good players."

Those seniors stood tall, especially 5-5 Olivia Allen.