Warren delivers against Wheeling
If it wasn’t the hounding that got Wheeling, it was the pounding.
The Warren girls basketball team hounded Wheeling all over the floor Monday night, with pressure in the halfcourt and some pressure every now and then in the backcourt as well. It created all kinds of turnovers, miscues and mistakes, many at the (quick) hands of feisty Warren guard Alexis Leneau.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils were pounding the ball inside to 6-foot-3 center Jessica Prince over and over and over again. She muscled her way around the paint at will.
The end result was 21 Wheeling turnovers and a game-high 23 points for Prince as Warren cruised to a 49-35 victory over Wheeling in second round action of Warren’s own Blue Devil Classic holiday tournament.
The victory moves the Blue Devils to 6-6 on the season. Wheeling drops to 1-13.
“Our offense comes from our defense, so we like to keep the defense up as much as possible,” said Leneau, who was responsible for at least a handful of Wheeling turnovers herself. Late in the game, she spearheaded a full-court press that even forced Wheeling into a 10-second call in the backcourt.
“I try to make sure my defense is high energy at all times,” Leneau said. “We need to make (the opposing team) accountable for what they’re going to do.”
Wheeling accounted for only 9 points in the opening quarter, getting just 3-of-11 shots to fall against Warren’s tough defense. On offense, the Blue Devils were sitting at the other end of the spectrum, barely with a miss.
Leneau dropped in 9 of her 14 points in the first quarter while Prince pounded away for 6 points.
Warren took a comfy 20-9 advantage into the second quarter.
“It was pretty easy for me to get good position inside. The passes my teammates gave me were excellent and I was able to work with what they gave me,” Prince said. “I had been struggling to score points and rebound lately and today was different. I proved myself out there.”
At halftime, Wheeling was down 27-17, and from that point on could never get any closer than 9 points. Wheeling forward Kellie Kuzmanic knocked down a 3-pointer early in the third quarter that cut Warren’s advantage to 31-22, but then the Blue Devils went on a 7-2 run to regain firm control.
“Our defense wasn’t very strong. We should have pushed (Prince) out of the lane more,” said Kuzmanic, who led Wheeling with 13 points. “They’re an aggressive defense, too. That was hard. We’re just trying to improve as much as we can.”
The Wildcats have been trying to keep a stiff upper lip throughout a season that has produced just one win so far. Meanwhile, Warren is dealing with its own frustrations.
Perennial powers in Lake County, the Blue Devils aren’t used to being a .500 team.
“I’m surprised,” Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. “We have a lot of very talented players. But sometimes we don’t always make the right decisions. That’s been our downfall too many times. It won’t matter how many turnovers we force if we can’t capitalize on the other end.
“It’s a matter of our kids learning what they have to do to play together well and maximize their abilities.”
Senior guard Amanda Barger finished with 8 points for Warren. Meanwhile, Deanna Kuzmanic added 8 points and Leah Malsom added 7 points for Wheeling.
“It was the speed of Warren and their inside game,” Wheeling coach Julissa Hernandez summed. “And it’s hard to deal with them both at the same time. Their height inside hurt us and then the turnovers…that’s something we’ve been battling all season.”
Carmel 45, Lake Forest 32: Hot off the presses: Carmel’s press leaves opponent in a mess.
That was the case on Monday night in second round action of Warren’s Blue Devil Classic holiday tournament.
The Corsairs reeled off a 16-0 first-quarter shutout of Lake Forest en route to a breezy 45-32 win that was fueled in large part by their nasty full-court press.
“We got off to a really good start and maintained that the whole game,” Carmel coach Kelly Perz said. “We were getting easy baskets off our press. I think our first 16 points might have all been layups. That always helps.”
The press has been helping the 8-4 Corsairs all season.
“We do like to press a lot because it can generate so much of our offense,” Perz said. “We’re really athletic, and we practiced it all summer. That’s helped with chemistry and just knowing what each player is going to do.
“We tried to do it a little bit last year. But this being the second year, and the returners knowing it better, that’s really helped having that experience with it.”
Lake Forest climbed back into the game by outscoring Carmel 13-4 in the second quarter. That made the Corsairs’ halftime advantage 20-13.
But Carmel outscored the Scouts by 7 points in the third quarter to regain full control.
“We need to work on (closing out). It’s been something we’ve had trouble with all season,” said Carmel sophomore guard Kathleen Felicelli, who scored a team-high 12 points. “We’ll get a big lead and then it’s like we get too comfortable. We just need to play hard the whole time. I know we can do it.”
The Corsairs also got 8 points apiece out of Sarah McHugh and Kaitlyn Lynch. Lake Forest was led by Mary Striedl and Annie Keller, who scored 13 and 12 points respectively.
— Patricia Babcock McGraw