Traversa, Wheaton North drop Downers Grove North
Few are the 6-foot-1 girls high school basketball players that teams must check at the 3-point line.
Mandy Traversa makes it a necessity.
The Wheaton North sophomore scored a career-high 20 points — hitting four 3-pointers — leading the third-seeded Falcons past No. 6 Downers Grove North 61-36 and into the semifinals of the Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic in Wheaton.
“Everybody thinks Mandy's a post,” Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton said, “but she's really not a post. She's 6-1 and she can shoot the lights out. She's a difficult matchup for teams because she can post up well inside and she can step out and shoot it.”
Wheaton North (9-2) advanced to the semifinals of its tournament for the first time since 1990, where the Falcons will play defending champion Hersey.
Hersey beat Wheaton North in last year's tournament, a fact not lost on the Falcons.
“One of our main goals is to win this tournament. It is at our place,” Traversa said. “Last year we played Hersey and we were up by 15 at half, and we kind of gave it away. We definitely want to get our revenge and beat them.”
Traversa, making her fifth start of the season, figures to get more playing time with Falcons senior AK Feltes injured. Feltes is expected to miss two weeks with a slight tear in her patella tendon.
The Falcons didn't miss a beat Tuesday.
“In warmups my shots were falling,” Traversa said, “so I wanted to shoot as much as I could. With AK out I need to pick up the rebounding, and the shooting. I need to mix it up a little bit.”
Fast starts are the norm in recent Wheaton North wins. This was no different.
The Falcons ran out to a quick 10-0 lead. Traversa had two early baskets and Fantasia Vine, who also scored 20 points, had a steal and acrobatic layup in transition, then hit a long 3-pointer just more than three minutes in.
Wheaton North led 19-4 after a Traversa basket, 19-8 after a quarter in which the Falcons shot 62 percent from the field.
Downers Grove North (8-4) pulled within 26-21 at the half, but Wheaton North hit the Trojans with a 14-0 run out of the break.
Downers Grove North struggled to handle Wheaton North's ball pressure early, turning the ball over its first five possessions, eight in the first quarter.
“That was our game plan, to try to speed them up and pressure the ball,” Eaton said. “Sydney Sharkey's the key to our defense. She pressures the ball and gets after it. Downers Grove North runs a lot of sets. We wanted to make them make plays, rather than running sets.”
Amelia Echemann scored 13 points for the Trojans, who crept closer by making 12 of 14 free throws in the second quarter. Alison Schuster added 9 points.
“We made a nice comeback going into half down 26-21,” Downers Grove North coach Leslie Dehn said, “but you expend so much energy doing that. It wears the kids down. Our kids battled, but we had a rough third quarter.”