Wheeling rolls into Final Four

Wheeling's girls basketball team has made it a point not to take an opponent lightly all season.

With a 31-1 state-ranked Rockford Boylan team as their rival in Monday's Class 4A Elgin Community College supersectional, that was hardly about to change.

"Having the same record as us, we figured this would be hard game," said Wheeling standout Ashley Wilson, who often make things look easy along with her state-ranked team. "We just came out focused and ready to play."

Wilson wasn't kidding.

The Wildcats scored the game's first 17 points and almost pitched a first-quarter shutout before Boylan's Maria Ludeke hit a 14-footer from the baseline with five seconds left.

The Titans (31-2) never got closer than 10 the rest of the way as Wheeling won its first girls basketball supersectional in school history with a 64-51 victory.

Fifth-year coach Shelly Wiegel emptied the bench in the final minutes as Boylan finished the game on an 8-0 run.

"There's been a couple of times where we've had to meet with the team and discuss where we were headed," said Wiegel about the Wildcats' finest season in school history. "But it was great to see them put it all together tonight."

The Wildcats (32-1) will make their first trip to the state finals and face Bolingbrook (23-4) in Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal.

Junior whiz Janelle Cannon put in another crowd-pleasing performance with 24 points, 3 assists and 2 steals while Wilson tossed in 20 points with 15 rebounds and 4 assists.

"She was smooth," said Titans coach Kim Connell about Cannon, who tossed home three 3-pointers. "I told our kids we had to play her inside and out because she is a driver. She had a great game.

"I told Maria (Ludeke, who had 8 points) she would have to outwork her. Maria did the best she could. I thought she held her own."

Sophomore standout Brea Edwards led Boylan with 15 points, 4 shy of her average of 19.

"These kids had the best record in school history," Connell said. "Obviously, it's disappointing to miss going downstate by one game but they have a lot to be proud of. They've had a great season."

Bridgette Gray's steal and layup made it 15-0 before Wilson's layup capped the 17-0 run with 1:45 left in the first quarter.

"We were tight - but I wouldn't say were shellshocked," Connell said. "Our shots weren't falling. We weren't getting crisp passes which would give us good looks. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong."

Everything seemed to go right for the Mid-Suburban League champs, who extended their lead to 62-40 with 1:35 left.

Junior Bianca Szafarowicz added 12 points, 5 assists, 5 steals and 5 rebounds for the Wildcats while Stephanie Kuzmanic chipped in 4 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists, including a nifty one to Gray for a layup midway through the fourth quarter.

"I think we've had pretty good team chemistry all season," Kuzmanic said. "And this game was no different."

"We kept our eye on the prize," Wilson added. "And now we're headed downstate. We'd like to get there and take it all. Why stop now?"

There sure was no stopping the Wildcats on Monday.

"It was just our defense (forced 19 turnovers)," Cannon said. "We always say defense wins games. We came out and got the stops we needed."

The next stop is Normal.

"As excited as the kids are now, it will be back to business (today) at practice," Wiegel said. "They have been real good all season about enjoying their wins and then going back to work. If you ask them, they'll tell you their work is still not done."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276226">Images from Wheeling HS supersectional game </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>