WW South having fun again
Wheaton Warrenville South is back, and the Tigers are having a ton of fun.
Saturday's 51-28 victory at Naperville North was the Tigers' sixth of the season, equaling their win total from all last year.
"We just came out ready to play," junior Annie Shain said. "Like coach said, make a statement in the DVC."
The Tigers (6-1, 2-0 DuPage Valley Conference) made themselves heard loud and clear, especially on defense. They held Naperville North scoreless during a 61/2-minute stretch in the first and second quarters, scoring 11 straight points to take a 16-7 lead that hit 25-16 at halftime.
After the Huskies' Kaitlin Knoll opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run. The Huskies scored just 5 points in that third quarter.
"That's not going to win you many ballgames," Huskies coach Jacquie Discipio said. "The second half I never felt like we were in a good flow as far as our offensive movement."
As good as the Tigers' defense is, though, the main difference from last year is on offense.
"Now we're making better passes, we're taking care of the ball," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "It's just all those little things that we're doing a little bit better in and it results in points."
Shain led the Tigers with 15 points, hitting four 3-pointers along the way. Heidi Ansiel added 12 points.
"The kids who scored against Glenbard East on Thursday night didn't score tonight," Kroehnke said. "The girls who didn't score against Glenbard, scored tonight. It's really fun to watch them right now because, No. 1, they're playing defense. They're just playing great defense. And they're sharing the ball offensively, and somebody new steps up each night for us. It's been a lot of fun."
It wasn't much fun for Naperville North (2-5, 1-1).
"We knew going in it was going to be a tough game for us," Discipio said.
It didn't help the Huskies that freshman guard Zoe Swift missed the game for a soccer tournament and Emily Carpenter is still recovering from the flu, though she did get a few minutes on the court.
"That was a huge loss for us," Discipio said.
The schedule gets harder for WW South next week, with undefeated Naperville Central on Thursday and Wheaton Academy in the Wheaton Shootout on Saturday. Then comes the Benet/Naperville North holiday tournament.
"It gets 10 times harder next week, and then it gets 10 times harder the week after that," Kroehnke said. "We've got to keep it going, but it's awfully fun where we're at."