WW South's pace does in Wheaton North
Pace is an important, albeit tricky science on the basketball court.
Rob Kroehnke knew his team's was off in the first half Tuesday.
"(Assistant) coach Phil (Culcasi) said it perfectly at halftime, he said we're going 90 percent on offense and 60 percent on defense," Kroehnke said, "and we needed to switch it around. We needed to slow down offensively, take better shots, and pick it up defensively."
The No. 7 Tigers found their pace in the third quarter, picked up the pace and put away visiting Wheaton North 57-41.
WW South (17-2, 6-0 DuPage Valley Conference), which remained a game ahead of Naperville Central in the loss column in the DVC, held a tenuous 23-19 lead at halftime. But they outscored their cross-town rivals 25-12 in a decisive third quarter.
"We were a little slow in the first half. Our defense was not what it usually is," said WW South senior Kasey Gassensmith, who scored 15 of her 21 points after halftime. "We were going at their pace. Third quarter, we needed to go at our pace. We started to turn it on."
The critical stretch came coincidentally after a Wheaton North timeout, with the margin 27-21, with 6:48 left. Sierra Bisso rainbowed in a 3-pointer, and Maggie Dansdill scored off a feed from Meghan Waldron.
Waldron, who had 21 points and 14 rebounds for WW South, convered a three-point play off a Falcons turnover, then followed her own miss after another turnover to cap a 10-0 run.
"We got that little cushion that we need," Kroehnke said, "because I don't care, what year, Wheaton North-Wheaton South, anything is bound to happen."
Similar to losses to Waubonsie Valley and Morgan Park, Wheaton North (9-11, 3-4) hung tough into the second half. And the Falcons did so without starting point guard Reilly Stewart, who suffered a concussion Saturday at the McDonald's Shootout.
Further hurting its cause, Wheaton North shot just 18 percent in the second half and missed several from near the basket.
Minus Stewart, Maddie Baillie, averaging double figures, was forced to handle the ball more and went scoreless with just 4 shots.
"I thought our kids played well without our point guard. If we have our point guard I think it's a completely different game," Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton said. "We make a couple layups there, my goodness, I think it might be down to the wire."
Chrissy Baird had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Mandy Traversa 10 points for the Falcons. Wheaton North's high effort was most epitomized by Jaquala Hillman, who scored 13 points with 7 rebounds, chased around Waldron and banked in a 3-pointer to end the first half.
"Jaquala, the kid plays harder than any girl I've ever seen," Eaton said. "I'm proud of her effort tonight."
Dansdill added 8 points and 7 rebounds for WW South, which won its seventh straight.