Wheeling's nerves calmed quickly

Fast starts have been a trademark of the Wheeling girls basketball team all season.

But 17-0 in a supersectional?

"Everyone was nervous at first," said Wildcats' junior guard Bianca Szafarowicz. "We just knew we had to come out and play our game right from the start."

Boy, did they. Szafarowicz set the tone by scoring the game's first basket on a nice feed from Janelle Cannon just 30 seconds in. Then, Szafarowicz stole Rockford Boylan's inbound pass and laid it in for a 4-0 Wheeling lead. The Wildcats went on from there to play relentless defense, causing Boylan 11 first-quarter turnovers, and rolled to a 64-51 win in the Class 4A Larkin supersectional at Elgin Community College Monday night. The win sends Wheeling to Redbird Arena for the first time, where it will face Bolingbrook in Friday's 6:30 p.m. state semifinal.

"We talked to our kids about the experience we have in big games and playing in front of big crowds," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel. "We're used to it. We've played nine games in front of 2,000 fans. We wanted to come out firing and we did."

The Wildcats shot 8 of 15 in the first quarter with senior Ashley Wilson, who was named to the Associated Press first team all-state earlier in the day, scoring 6 points to lead the balanced attack.

"We worked too hard to get here and we wanted this more than anything," said Wilson, who finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. "We knew we had to come out and take it."

Wilson said staying focused after grabbing the big lead was the key to winning in the end.

"Early in the game it was hard," she said. "But we knew (Boylan) was capable of coming back. They weren't here for nothing. We just had to keep working hard and not have any letdowns."

For Szafarowicz, setting the tone was just doing her part.

"I came into this game just wanting to do whatever the team needed to win and go to state," she said. "Who scores the points doesn't matter, we just all wanted to get to state."

And on Friday, the Wildcats will live that dream at Redbird Arena in Normal.