Wheaton Academy 50, St. Francis 41

The St. Francis girls basketball players can be forgiven if they thought there was more than one Alexa Sharkey on the court for host Wheaton Academy on Friday.

Sharkey posted a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals to lead the Warriors to a 50-41 win over rival St. Francis.

"When I double-team an opposing player, I can go for the steal," said Sharkey. "I really like that about our defense."

And Sharkey stepped up big at crunch time.

Her driving basket tied the game at 38-38 in the fourth quarter, and on the next two plays she assisted on baskets by teammates Kristine Engebrecht and Meghan Grant that broke the tie and gave the Warriors (8-4) a 42-38 lead with less than 3 minutes to go.

"I love Sharkey," said Warriors guard Jennifer Lee. "She is everywhere. She's the kind of player every team wants."

"Sharkey's a go-to player," said first-year coach Beth Mitchell. "She can make a lot of things happen on defense and on offense, both on the outside and the inside. She's just a special kind of kid who has that whole package. And she's fun to coach because you never have to get on her about her energy or effort."

Egebrecht reached the double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Lee's 5-for 6 at the free throw line down the stretch (9-for-10 on the night) sewed up Wheaton Academy's 9-point win in a game that was closely contested right to the end.

Wheaton opened a 17-10 lead in the second quarter, but that was short-lived as the Spartans (5-7) tied it at 21-21 by halftime on a buzzer-beater by Maggie O'Toole.

The Warriors, who suffered from erratic ball-handling in the first half, took a 30-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

"It was an up-tempo game and that led to a little sloppiness on both sides," Mitchell sad. "But we settled down and took care of the ball and our execution was a little better in the second half."

"Last year we lost by a lot to St. Francis," Sharkey said. "So we practiced hard on our defense. We played up in their faces to force those turnovers."

"No one remembers the last time we beat St. Francis," said Lee. "It was an intense game, and fun to play."

That smothering defense was also the hallmark of Mitchell's women's teams at College of DuPage.

"When the ball moves, we move," said Lee. "That's the coach's motto. We play defense all over the court."

Catherine Culligan, who missed some time in the first half due to foul trouble, was the Spartans' high scorer with 14 points, including three 3-pointers.

"We weren't making our layups all night," said Culligan. "And our rebounding and defense weren't as good as they could have been. Wheaton had good ball movement and they were getting second chances."

Jennifer Eldridge was St. Francis' top rebounder with 10.