Weaver, Lisle blow out Manteno
Lisle senior guard McKenzie Weaver shrugged off her first shot in Monday's girls basketball game against Manteno.
The 5-foot-4 Weaver smiled after shooting an airball on a perimeter jumper early in the first quarter. After missing her next shot, Weaver suddenly caught fire. She scored a team-high 17 points and added 5 steals to lead Lisle to a 72-41 victory over Manteno in the Interstate Eight Conference in Lisle.
Emma Rossin added 15 and Cassidy Allen tallied 13 for the Lions. Weaver said the entire team showed some nerves early in the game because it was the first home game of the season after a cancellation last week due to snow.
"I get nervous in games with big crowds and that showed on my first shot," Weaver said. "After that I got it out my head and blocked out the crowd and got more involved in the game. Once I made some plays, it gave me motivation to keep going."
Guard Maddie Lacer had a memorable game, scoring 5 points in Manteno's first three trips down the court to score a game-high 24 points.
Paced by a five-guard attack that stymied the taller Panthers, the Lions (7-1, 2-0) broke open the game in the second half. Weaver's layup off a steal padded the Lions' lead to 33-27 midway through the third. With the Panthers struggling with turnovers, the Lions built a 42-27 lead with two minutes left in the quarter.
In the half Lisle set the tone a hot-shooting performance when Rossin canned a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game. The Lions repeatedly used their speed and passing to find open spots in Manteno's zone defense.
"We had consecutive stops and that helped us a lot and we had good ball movement," Rossin said.
After shooting an airball on her first shot, Weaver bounced back to score 7 points in Lisle's final three first-quarter possessions for a 15-13 lead. Weaver hit a short jumper, then made 2 of 3 free throws and drilled a 3-pointer to end her scoring barrage.
Behind back-to-back 3s by Rossin and Tara Kane, the Lions built a 22-16 lead, but Manteno clawed back into the game behind Lacer. The junior hit two 3-pointers late in the second quarter to finish with 17 points, slicing the Lions' lead to 29-26.
The Panthers fell victim to fatigue, a cold-shooting spell and turnovers in the second half. The Lions held Manteno to 10 points for the first 11:30 of the second half to build a 56-36 lead. Cassidy Allen's 3-pointer extended the margin to 61-38 with 3:52 left to put the game out of reach.