Flat start can't keep Wheaton Academy from win

Not every game is going to be exciting and well-played.

"I thought I was going to fall asleep actually," Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell joked about the start of her team's 49-27 victory against Aurora Christian on Tuesday in West Chicago. "It was just really flat."

Aurora Christian had a lot to do with that, starting the game in a defense designed to stop the Warriors' Sharkey sisters, senior Alexa and sophomore Sydney.

"I think they kind of surprised us a little bit because they came out in a triangle-and-two and the girls didn't really know how to respond to that," Mitchell said.

"The triangle-and-two was working pretty good trying to take the Sharkeys out of the game a little bit," Eagles coach Dan Stone added. "They're tremendous athletes and they scored a lot at the last game they had."

Leading 20-13 at halftime, the Warriors (8-1, 3-0 Suburban Christian Conference) scored the first 11 points in the third quarter to break the game open. The Eagles (4-7, 0-3) never challenged again.

"We did a decent job in the first half," Stone said, "and then we just came out flat and forced the ball, had turnovers and weren't playing good defense."

"I'm glad we took care of it in the second half, but we definitely could have come out better," Wheaton Academy senior forward Meghan Grant added.

While the Eagles kept the Sharkeys to a combined 16 points, other Warriors stepped up to fill the void. Grant just missed a double-double, leading all scorers with 12 points to go with 9 rebounds and 3 steals.

"I was just getting to the boards," Grant said. "That was really the key to the game was the rebounds."

Kirsten Bell added 10 points for the Warriors.

"Aurora Christian did a great job of focusing on the two Sharkeys," Mitchell said. "They really tried to take them out of their game, and when that happens other people have got to step up. Meghan did a great job of stepping up and I thought that Kirsten did as well. That's why you play the game with five people instead of just two. The Sharkeys still found a way to get their points, but the other girls did too."

Senior Naomi Haas led the Eagles with 11 points.

"She's shown some flashes this season, and when she's on she's on," Stone said of Haas. "She was really hustling tonight."