Wheaton Academy turns up the defense in win over Lisle

Alexa Sharkey's description of playing defense sounds an awful lot like a hunter stalking prize game.

On Tuesday it was Lisle Lion.

Wheaton Academy forced 31 Lisle first-half turnovers - 8 courtesy of Sharkey steals - en route to a 50-28 Warriors win at the Warrior Dome in West Chicago.

The Warriors (4-1) alternated between 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone, as well as man defenses with plenty of fullcourt pressure. In the middle of it all was a roving Sharkey ready to pounce.

"I just usually watch the person's eyes," Sharkey said, "and then see where another person is coming from. And I have really long arms - that comes to my advantage."

Lisle had nowhere to hide in the first half. The Lions (3-3) actually scored first on a Jackie Todd stickback two minutes in. But Wheaton Academy followed with a 15-0 run, then laid another 15-0 run on to go ahead 30-4 with 5:02 left in the second quarter after a Sydney Sharkey 3-pointer, assisted by Alexa Sharkey.

Four first-half timeouts called by Lisle coach Jeff Javior couldn't stop the bleeding. This coming off a double-digit Lions win at Peotone Monday.

"Even thought we have three seniors out there," Javior said, "they don't believe in themselves yet, to the point where they can stay with the better teams. The teams we play all the time and are comfortable with, we play really well. Against teams we aren't as familiar with and we know are good, we struggle. They have to start trusting themselves."

Alexa Sharkey filled up the stat line to the tune of 9 points, 7 rebounds, 9 steals and 7 assists for Wheaton Academy. Sydney Sharkey had 13 points, all in the first half, knocking down three 3-pointers.

Meghan Grant added 10 points and 6 rebounds and Kristine Egebrecht 8 points for Wheaton Academy. The Warriors showed some rust from going 10 days without a game and with just two practices.

The energy level wasn't lacking.

"We're going to try to pressure people - that will be our first line of attack in every game," Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell said, "is to create turnovers and try to turn that into offense for us. Our speed really gives us the opportunity to do that, and the stamina of these girls too. They're just a really, really fit group."

Colleen Drennan led Lisle with 9 points, all in the second half.