First-place Wheaton North grabs win at WW South
David Eaton ran the gamut of emotions during the first half of Saturday's Wheaton North-Wheaton Warrenville South game.
He was feeling good afterward.
Eaton's Falcons grinded out a 44-39 win, Eaton's first in the Tigers gym in his seven years at Wheaton North.
"Our kids got down early," Eaton said, "but I thought they did a fantastic job of coming back and just playing. They never lost confidence."
The Falcons' ninth win in 10 games - the lone loss minus three injured starters - kept Wheaton North (14-8, 9-1 DuPage Valley Conference) a game ahead of Naperville Central heading into Thursday's matchup of DVC leaders in Wheaton.
WW South (16-7, 6-4) scored the game's first 8 points, Caitlin Schwark and Annie Shain hitting 3-pointers while Wheaton North missed its first seven shots. Eaton called timeout and chewed his team out on the sidelines. WW South led 19-14 with 1:57 left in the first half after a Shain drive, but Wheaton North hit the Tigers with a 3-point barrage to turn the game's momentum.
Paige Fowler hit a 3-pointer and Maddie Baillie knocked down a long 3 to give the Falcons the lead. Fowler hit another 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half for a 23-19 lead, running into a hug from her fired-up coach.
"I went from really frustrated," Eaton said, "to on cloud nine. But I thought the girls did a good job of containing their emotions."
"He's always as into the game as we are," Fowler said of her coach. "They were great passes and I was wide open. It was a great way to end the half."
WW South coach Rob Kroehnke was wary of Wheaton North's ability to get hot in a hurry.
"We talked about how they make runs," Kroehnke said. "They will score 10 points in a minute and a half and then they won't score for three minutes. When they get on a run, we have to do something to stop it. We did a terrible job of controlling the tempo in that stretch."
WW South never led again but pulled within 31-30 with 6:36 left on a Shain 3-pointer. After a Wheaton North turnover Shain missed a runner for the lead. The Tigers had a chance to tie later, but Schwark's 3-pointer with 2:15 left rimmed in and out.
A.K. Feltes hit a pair of free throws at the other end, and on a loose ball exchange Falcons guard Fantasia Vine dove on the floor for a steal that ended with a Feltes score in transition.
"A game like that comes down to every possession. Every possession counts," Kroehnke said. "They did the little things a little bit better. We were right where we needed to be; it just comes down to making plays."
Feltes scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half with 11 rebounds. Seven of the boards were offensive.
"A.K. does the dirty work for us," Eaton said. "That's how she's played all year. Rebounding-wise, she gets our team going."
Vine had 9 points, 7 assists and 4 steals. Kasey Gassensmith paced WW South with 14 points.