Wheeling runs past Leyden
Not happy with a 36-27 loss to Plainfield North on Wednesday night to start the 36th annual Blenner Classic at St. Viator, Wheeling's girls basketball team was looking for an immediate turnaround.
"We really needed to change the way we played (from the night before)," said Wildcats junior guard Sophia Stanke. "We didn't play well and we wanted to show who we should be and who we wanted to be."
The new mentality was a successful one as the Wildcats used an early 16-0 run to take a 20-5 lead and never looked back in a 47-33 win over Leyden.
Stanke led the way, scoring a team-high 12 points from four 3-pointers while classmate Morgan Collar added 11.
"We realized that Wednesday night was not the team we wanted to be and if we were going to reach our goals this season, we had to play team basketball," said Wildcats coach Matt Weber.
Nosa Igiehon, Sam Janulis and Tommy Helms each chipped in 5 points for Wheeling (7-8) while Igiehon and Collar each had double-figure rebounds.
In a nonconference match 12 days ago, Wheeling topped visiting Leyden 45-36.
Two Eagles who started at guard that game were not available Thursday while on Christmas vacation.
"That hurts a lot," said Leyden coach Stephanie Kuzmanic. "Not only are we missing a lot of scoring but now we have people stepping into positions they are not used to playing so it takes a little time for them to figure it out."
The Eagles (5-7) figured out things defensively in the final 10:50 of the game, holding the Wildcats to 5 points (all free throws).
Junior Jamyah Tate led Leyden with 12 points followed by senior Gabriela Hurtado (9) and junior Evelyn Abundes (8).
"Usually we pride ourselves on defense," Kuzmanic said. "That's usually our strength. Sometimes we struggle to score and especially without our leading scorer in this game."
"Credit Leyden," Weber said. "It's the second time we've played them and they're a team that is going to continue to pressure you for four quarters and work their tails off.
"It doesn't matter what the scoreboard says. They're a hardworking team. Credit coach Kuzmanic on putting forth that kind of program."
Kuzmanic starred in the Wheeling program and her sister Deanna (now starring at Alabama-Birmingham) played her senior year for Weber.
"It's always fun to play against Stephanie," Weber said. "It's a great basketball family. I enjoyed my time coaching Deanna and my time competing against Stephanie."
Stephanie Kuzmanic reached out to Weber when she took over at Leyden five years ago.
"I tried to set something up so we could play at Wheeling," Kuzmanic said. "It's fun for our kids to kind of see where I came from and it's fun for me to go back and see the same people working the scoreboard, same people working the books from when my Wheeling team went downstate (third in 2009)."