Quick-thinking Lake Zurich outruns Fenwick
In between a pair of Sweet 16 girls basketball tournament games at Lake Zurich on Saturday, Bears senior Renee Wojcik ate an omelet for lunch.
The healthy kind.
“A veggie omelet,” the 5-foot-8 forward said, smiling while recalling the delicious meal after LZ’s second game, against Fenwick.
Had a bunch of eggs been strewn all over LZ’s home court before the afternoon’s LZ-Fenwick game, the surface would have looked like a scrambled mess afterward.
Fenwick’s frenetic Friars, who full-court pressed LZ from tip to final buzzer, amassed 25 steals and rarely passed the ball more than three times before taking a shot. But LZ’s Bears put their eggs – a basketball, rather – in the baskets more than Fenwick did in a satisfying 74-65 victory.
“Fast,” Bears senior guard Maisie Cox said. “There’s your word, if you’re looking for one word to describe it.”
Added Wojcik: “So fast. This game was so fast.”
Friars coach Dave Power must be hockey fan. In the first quarter, for his first substitution, all five starters came out at once, a la a line shift in that icy sport. He repeated the fresh-five-for-spent-five move at another juncture in the first half.
“We were thinking we might get too winded to keep up with them,” said Bears coach Chris Bennett, whose club (17-9) had edged Providence Catholic 45-44 Saturday morning. “You ask yourself, ‘Run with them or try to slow them down?’
“My thought was, ‘What the heck, let’s run.’ Had this been a playoff game, though, I’m not so sure running would have been the way to go.”
Fenwick’s go-go-go bunch, paced by sophomore guard Jade Owens (25 points, 4 steals), led 29-27 at the half and 45-43 after three quarters.
LZ, indefatigable, went up 48-45 in the first minute of the final frame, thanks to a 3-pointer by senior reserve guard Stephanie Schmid (19 points, 3 treys, 6 rebounds) and a bucket by senior forward Dori Darras (14 points, 7 rebounds).
Another Schmid 3-pointer, plus a 3-point play by Cox (12 points, 8 boards, 4 steals), highlighted an 8-0 run to give the hosts a 58-50 advantage.
“(LZ) did a good job spreading the floor,” said Power, whose squad (18-6) had to battle without injured starting guards Marek Burchett and Paige Corvino. “Their kids rebounded well, too. We had a tough time identifying their players (in transition).
“A lot of Lake Zurich’s players,” he added, “look the same, play the same.”
Wojcik’s current game? Not the same as it was as the start of the season. Her primary roles then were to grab a rebound, here and there, and play tough defense.
She’s been looking to score more lately.
Wojcik’s aggressive ventures to the basket helped her net 8 points (6-for-6 free throws) against Fenwick. She also came down with 6 boards.
“I’m getting it now,” she said, not referring to the ball but to a better understanding of the impact she can have offensively.
Bears senior guard Cathryne Spear (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) tallied two fourth-quarter buckets on inbound plays. Darras delivered both of the assists.
She long-tossed the first one, from under LZ’s basket. Big assist No. 2 wasn’t as dramatic; the connection covered three-quarters of the court and upped LZ’s lead to 70-59, at 2:32.
“Those are things you want to save for the end of games, if you can,” Bennett said of the back-breaking, and press-busting, inbound plays.
LZ, 3-1 in Sweet 16 tourney games, dropped 31 points on Fenwick in the fourth quarter and made 23-of-27 free throws in the game. Schmid hit two 3s and went 4-for-4 from the freebie stripe in the final eight minutes.
“We’ve got some momentum,” Bennett said after his team’s fifth win in six games. “It’s a good time in the season to have it.”
Lake Zurich 45, Providence Catholic 44: Schmid, in Saturday morning’s game, poured in a team-high 16 points (4 treys), and LZ limited to Providence’s Celtics to 15 second-half points.
Celtics senior Cassidy Glenn struck for 23 points. But the 5-9 forward scored only 5 points after the break, as Wojcik and Spear took turns guarding her.
Darras added 11 points, and Spear finished with 8.