West Chicago shoots to victory
It's not often a team shoots that well.
But after watching West Chicago shoot 81 percent from the floor in the final three quarters of the Wildcats' 66-50 victory, Naperville North coach Jacquie Discipio didn't have a shred of doubt about the number.
"Wow. I believe it," Discipio said. "It felt like it. We knew West Chicago, they're a great team. They're good shooters. We were prepared for that. We knew our defense was going to have to be top-notch to stop them, but unfortunately we didn't really rise to the occasion today with that."
West Chicago (14-5, 5-2 DuPage Valley Conference) shot 64 percent for the game and 77 percent at the free-throw line, where it scored 20 points.
"We were pretty hot," West Chicago junior Allie Tapanes said.
The Huskies started well, trailing just 13-12 after the first quarter. The second quarter was a different story entirely.
"We wanted to come out stronger and we did," Tapanes said.
"Oh my gosh, we had a great first quarter," Discipio added. "The first quarter I thought we were in it, and then we had a terrible second quarter. We gave up 19 points.
"We played a better second half, but we've been struggling to put together four quarters all season, so when we're playing well and we're doing well, that's good, but our defense comes back to haunt us. I feel like that's what we were harping on with them. We have the mentality that we always want to go score, score, score, which is good because we're fast, but we have to take some more pride on our defensive sets."
The Wildcats could be proud of their offensive sets. They hit from outside, with Tapanes hitting three 3-pointers, finishing with 19 points, and they were a force inside, where Mary Connolly scored the bulk of her 12 points.
"We started hitting our shots," Tapanes said. "A lot of people were on other than just me."
Zoe Swift led the Huskies (6-12, 3-4) off the bench with 13 points, and Shannon Bushman and Emily Koch added 11 apiece. The Huskies made just 34 percent of their shots.
It was a frustrating result for the Huskies, who are trying to break into the top half of the DVC.
"We're better than the bottom half, but we can't knock off one or two games in the top half," Discipio said. "That's what we need in the second round of conference. We're competing with the upper half, but we're not able to finish."
Benet 50, Bishop McNamara 46: No. 7 Benet spotted Bishop McNamara a 9-0 lead after a quarter, before rallying for the win in Kankakee. The Redwings (14-6, 4-2 East Suburban Catholic), who went 0 for 13 from the field in the first quarter, knocked down five 3-pointers in the game-turning third quarter. Sidney Prasse scored 17 points and Christen Prasse 13 for Benet, the two sisters combining to go 6-for-6 at the free throw line down the stretch. Belinda Schaafsma's 15 points paced Bishop McNamara.
Montini 78, St. Francis 20: The top-ranked Broncos roared out to a 29-0 lead, holding St. Francis scoreless until 2:05 left in the second quarter in Lombard. Whitney Holloway had 18 points, 7 assists and 5 steals, Kiki Wilson 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals and Hailey Adams 15 points for Montini (23-0, 7-0 Suburban Christian Blue). Kasey Reaber added 8 steals and Whitney Adams 9 rebounds. Fiona McMahon and Kelly McShea each tallied 6 points for St. Francis (10-9, 3-2).
South Elgin 64, Waubonsie Valley 49: Becca Smith poured in 19 points, going 11 of 14 at the free throw line, and the host Storm (10-8, 3-3 Upstate Eight Valley) upended No. 5 Waubonsie. Tami Morice scored 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and Rachael Ross 10 for Waubonsie (15-3, 5-2).
Naperville Central 45, Glenbard North 26: Trailing 15-11 at the half in Carol Stream, the Redhawks roared out of the break by outscoring the Panthers 21-6 in the third quarter. Emma Ondik scored 13 points and Emma Donahue 10 for Naperville Central (13-7, 6-1 DuPage Valley Conference). For Glenbard North (4-14, 0-7), Jackie Jacobs scored 12.
WW South 48, West Aurora 36: Allie Zappia and Meghan Waldron each scored 10 points, as the 13th-ranked Tigers kept pace with Naperville Central atop the DVC with their seventh straight win. Annie Shain added 9 points and Hannah Credille 8 for WW South (14-5, 6-1).
Glenbard S. 57, Seton Academy 41: Nevena Markovic poured in 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, pacing the 16th-ranked Raiders (16-3) at Whitney Young's MLK Classic.
Oak Park 51, Glenbard West 36: The host Huskies (13-9, 6-2 West Suburban Silver) jumped out to leads of 14-3 after a quarter and 25-11 at the half in a matchup for the Silver lead. Lauren Davis scored 13 points for Glenbard West (8-9, 4-2). Hilltoppers senior Cayla Herbst re-aggravated a knee injury early in the first half and didn't return.
Sandwich 35, Lisle 34: Nicole Urban scored 9 points for the top-seeded Lions (14-6), who were knocked off in the second round of the Interstate Eight Conference Tournament.