WW South stops West Chicago
West Chicago can be a dangerous opponent when its guards get into a groove.
Meghan Waldron and Wheaton Warrenville South weren't going to let that happen.
The eighth-ranked Tigers put the clamps on their visitors after the first quarter Thursday and pulled away for a 51-33 win over No. 13 West Chicago.
West Chicago (10-5, 2-2 DuPage Valley Conference) averaged over 62 points a game in winning the Oswego East Tournament last week, but DVC leader WW South (14-2, 4-0) wasn't having it.
"We wanted to dictate the pace of the game," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said.
West Chicago bolted out to a 12-7 lead after a quarter, and it was 14-7 seconds into the second after a Laura Panicali driving layup. But WW South switched from its man-to-man defense to a 1-3-1 zone, which it extended fullcourt. From there West Chicago managed just 2 points over the next 11½ minutes.
"I thought against our man that they controlled the tempo, and they were very patient and got the shots they wanted," Kroehnke said. "We wanted them to get a little quicker on their shots, so we went with a little more pressure. Great defensive effort."
West Chicago 3-point ace Claire Monroe, who averaged 20 points a game at Oswego East, hit her first 3 Thursday but then missed her next six shots and finished with 9 points. WW South's length might have bothered the smaller Wildcats.
"West Chicago is a very well-coached team, and they have a good motion offense," Waldron said. "They'll hit 3s all day if you let them. Our 1-3-1 got us going, we trapped them and got some steals."
WW South finished the half on a 14-2 run, Waldron giving the Tigers the lead for good with a score off a turnover. The Tigers got a big boost off the bench in the second quarter from Melinda Franke, Krysta Watts and Olivia Linebarger. WW South all but put the game away with a 7-0 run to start he second half.
"We started missing some shots, we started rushing a little bit, and then we let it affect our defense," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said. "We knew they were going to come at us at some point."
Waldron, as usual, was all over the place. The Tigers sophomore point guard scored 16 points with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and Kroehnke lauded her outstanding defense.
"I thought this was one of her more complete offensive and defensive games," Kroehnke said. "She's quick and very basketball smart."
Sierra Bisso added 11 points and Kasey Gassensmith had 9 points and 9 rebounds. WW South outrebounded West Chicago 43-15, and since giving up 61 points to Benet and 65 to Geneva in two losses has surrendered less than 28 points a game.
"We knew that we had to get back out our identity, and that starts at the defensive end," Kroehnke said.
Laura Panicali scored 10 points and Allie Tapanes 9 for West Chicago.
"We needed to show a little more patience offensively," Wallner said, "and we kind of needed to shoot lights-out in a game like this because we weren't going to get a ton inside. Obviously, they're a good team."