Lisle uses its anger to beat IC Catholic Prep
Gaby Wagoner got angry. Then she got down to business.
The Lisle junior guard scored 10 of her team- and personal-best 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lions earn a come-from-behind 52-49 victory at IC Catholic Prep.
"I guess to be honest I got more involved emotionally. I was a little bit more angry than I was before," said Wagoner, who found it hard to put the reason for her anger into words.
Whatever the reason, it was a good thing for Lisle (1-0) in the nonconference girls basketball game.
"There was one point where we were down 8 or 9, I think, and we took a timeout," Lisle coach Nick Balaban said. "And I said, 'Ladies, this has nothing to do with skill. This has everything to do with heart and intensity and emotion and pride and energy, and we're not displaying that.'"
ICCP (0-1) took a 7-point lead in the first half only to watch Lisle come back to take a 29-28 advantage at halftime.
The Knights got hot again to start the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points before a Wagoner basket at 3:35 ended the run.
The Lions tied the game at 42 with five minutes to play on a Wagoner steal and layup, then took the lead on a Caitlyn Webber basket. Wagoner had 4 steals in the game, all in the fourth quarter.
"Defense, yeah," Wagoner said to explain the comeback, with an assist to Balaban. "We got way more aggressive because I think we felt the time ticking. And we were like, OK, we have to catch up now."
The Knights regained the lead with 3:05 to go on a Jaida Smith free throw, but Webber struck again, putting Lisle ahead for good at 48-47 with 2:50 left.
"I thought we played very hard," Knights coach Kelsey James said. "I thought we gave effort in spurts. Overall, though, I like what they did. We're very young, very inexperienced, but at parts you wouldn't have noticed that was the case, which is good. I'm happy overall."
Claire Wagner, a 5-foot-11 freshman, led the Knights with 21 points. She also grabbed 8 rebounds, grabbed 5 steals and blocked a Lisle shot.
"She's amazing," James said, noting Wagner never looked nervous. "One of the few freshmen that comes in, starts in their very first game and just has a smile on her face the whole time, just is happy to do it. She's been a joy to coach and I'm excited to see what's going to come out of her the rest of the year."