Wheeling falls to Bolingbrook in state semifinal
NORMAL -- Nearly all season, Wheeling girl's basketball team has been able to produce terrific starts in its 32-win record-setting season.
Playing their first game in the 33-year history of the IHSA state finals, the Wildcats followed suit and enjoyed a 14-8 lead over state-ranked Bolingbrook after one quarter Friday night at Illinois State's Redbird Arena.
But the Raiders, who have had plenty of experience in Normal where they've played the last five years, clawed back into the Class 4A semifinal.
Bolingbrook (24-4) went ahead 18-16 when freshman Morgan Tuck (18 points, 8 rebounds) converted a layup and the Raiders never trailed again in a 53-40 triumph.
Wheeling (32-2) will face Geneva (32-1) in Saturday's 6:30 p.m. third-place game.
A driving layup by Bianca Szafarowicz gave the Mid-Suburban League champs their 14-8 lead.
"They jumped on us early and I think that was a mixture of things," said Bolingbrook coach Anthony Smith. "I think we were nervous, a little tentative and they are a really good team and were just playing harder than us."
Wildcats coach Shelly Wiegel went with her starting five of senior Ashley Wilson, junior Janelle Cannon, senior Bridgette Gray, junior Stephanie Kuzmanic and junior Szafarowicz all the way until Szafarowicz fouled out with 2:01 left in the game.
Freshman Kellie Kuzmanic replaced Szafarowicz, who led the Wildcats with 13 points.
The junior (5 rebounds, 2 assists) made a nifty spin move on the baseline for a layup which tied the game at 18-18 but Bolingbrook answered with a 6-0 run.
"The momentum shifted their way," said Wildcats junior guard Cannon (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), who gave Wheeling a 16-11 lead with a terrific baseline drive and bank shot "We came out strong, aggressive, the first quarter we played our game.
"But then they started hitting everything. We just didn't play our game."
Sophomore Ariel Massengale hit 3 3-pointers in the second quarter, including one with five seconds left in the half which sent the Raiders into the break leading 30-23.
Massengale also scored 18 points, meaning a freshman and sophomore scored 36 of the Raiders' 53 points.
"Going into halftime we had a chance to put a layup in and it didn't fall," Wiegel said. "And they came down and hit a 3-pointer. So instead of being down 2, we were down 7. There were a couple of little shifts we needed to go our way. It didn't work out for us."
Bolingbrook, undefeated against Illinois teams this season, held the Wildcats to a season-low 40 points.
Wheeling's previous low was 53 against Whitney Young (the Wildcats' only other loss, 75-53).
"It was a tough game," said Smith. "We came expecting to have to battle for 32 minutes and that was exactly what happened. We made a lot of mistakes but in the end we will take the result and move on."
After falling behind by 11 early in the second half, Wheeling got to within 35-31 thanks to a 7-0 run that included a 12-foot jumper by Gray, a layup by Szafarowicz off a steal and assist from Cannon and a layup by Wilson off a nice pass from Stephanie Kuzmanic.
However, Bolingbrook answered with a 6-0 run to end the third quarter and Wheeling never got closer than 7.
Wilson (9 points) grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 2 shots.
Wilson, the school's all-time leading scorer (nearly 1,900 points) and rebounder (more than 1,110) and her teammates will complete their season Saturday nigh and receive the school's first girls basketball state trophy.
"Every girl in our locker room is disappointed right now," Wiegel said. "We felt like we could win this game. The effort was there but we just had some things go against us and had some momentum swings that we couldn't recover from.
"They trapped us a little more than they had shown on tape but otherwise they showed us what we expected to see."
_John Lemon contributed