Will, Prospect find a way at York

The Dick Campbell gymnasium at York High School will always be a special memory for Taylor Will.

It’s the gym where she played her first varsity girls basketball tournament and everyone took notice of a promising freshman.

Now a junior, Will was back in the gym for the third straight year in the same York Thanksgiving tourney.

The two-time all-area guard scored a game-high 20 points to help lead Prospect to a 54-40 season-opening victory over the host Dukes.

This time, though, things were different for Will.

She was on the floor with her sister, Haley, a freshman making her first varsity start.

The little sibling didn’t disappoint, hitting two 3-pointers and playing a fine all-around game.

“It’s nice to be back here,” Taylor Will said. “I just remember the past years being so fun. And it’s so much fun now with my sister out there. It’s funny because we play all the time in the drive way so it just feels like we’re doing the same thing.”

Haley’s first varsity points came on a 3-pointer with 3:59 left in the first half, giving Prospect a 26-22 lead.

Taylor followed with a coast-to-coast layup that gave the Knights a 28-22 lead going into halftime.

Prospect pulled away to a 41-28 lead after three quarters.

Taylor had back-to-back layups and Haley added a 3-pointer to give the Knights a 39-26 lead with 2:08 left in the third quarter.

“They’re quite the duo,” said Prospect coach Ashley Graham, who also had a third Will on the bench (fourth grader Andie, who was serving as the water girl). “They are constantly looking to get open on offense and are workhorses on defense.

“Haley is a huge addition as a freshman. In my opinion, she can guard the other’s team best player. And Taylor is Taylor. She is one of the best players in the area and her attitude is excellent.”

Graham got plenty of production from the rest of her group as well.

Catherine Sherwood tossed in 15 points while Mallory Gonzales, a senior transfer from Trinity, added 11, including 2 big buckets in the first quarter.

“The key was running down the floor and getting a step ahead of the defense,” Sherwood said. “We like to do that instead of setting things up. Our 3-point shots were on, and we had some good touches in the post.”

Graham was pleased with the start for the Knights, who come back today and play St. Charles North at 11 a.m. in a second-round game.

“It’s a great group,” Graham said of her second team at Prospect.

Taylor Will looked great in the eyes of York coach John Constable.

“It seemed no matter what we tried to do, we couldn’t keep her in front of us,” he said. “She’s impressive, a very good player.”

Sarah Milkowski (9 points) and Molly Schlect (8) led York.

“We shot free throws well,” said Constable, whose team was 13-of-14. “But it’s tough to follow through on a game plan when you have post players sitting (foul trouble) most of the game.

Then the guards have to work twice as hard and they struggled shooting. It’s tough when you don’t have that good balance.”

York plays Conant at 2 p.m. today.

“We got caught playing catch-up and that’s added stress,” Constable said. ““It was a good first game but we are disappointed we lost. Maybe it will wake us up because we have to have a short memory.”