Wheaton North wins a thriller with fourth-quarter comeback
Rivalry games should be special. Thursday's girls basketball matchup in Wheaton didn't disappoint.
"That's a Wheaton North-Wheaton South basketball game," Tigers coach Rob Kroehnke said. "That's it. That's the best way to put it. We're down, we're up, we're down, we're tied."
They were all that, but when the final seconds ticked off the clock, the host Falcons were up, coming back from a 9-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 62-59.
"Neither one of us our record looks real good right now," Falcons coach Dave Eaton. "... It's a typical Wheaton North-Wheaton South game where you know that kids are going to play well, kids are going to hit big shots."
"We just had to keep our composure, stick it out at the defensive end and play as a team, and playing as a team made it fun," Falcons senior Emari Jones added.
Getting their first victory of the season against their cross-town rivals would have been especially sweet for the Tigers (0-6, 0-1 DuPage Valley Conference).
"That would have changed everything," Kroehnke said. "It really would have. That's sort of how we looked at it. All right, (Thanksgiving) tournament's over, starting the DVC, 0-0, here we go."
Jones wouldn't let that happen, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Falcons' comeback.
"No, we're not going down like that," Jones said with a laugh.
Falcons senior Kelly Thornton led all scorers with 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the first half to force the Tigers out of their 1-3-1 zone defense. That change made the Tigers more susceptible to fouls, and fouls and free throws helped determine the outcome. Three Tigers starters fouled out in the final 2:47 of the game, and the Falcons made 13 of 19 free throws in the fourth quarter. They made 23 of 33 for the game.
"They outlasted us. We had run out of fouls," said Kroehnke, whose Tigers made 18 of 22 free throws, improving on their 30 percent free-throw shooting entering the game.
The Falcons (2-3, 1-0) led 18-13 after the first quarter. They built a 9-point lead of their own until senior Marissa Lessick led the Tigers back to a 31-31 halftime tie, scoring 17 of her team-best 19 points in the first half.
Tigers junior Erin Madigan took over in the third quarter, scoring 11 of her 15 points, and WW South led 51-44 going to the fourth. Then the Tigers offense went cold.
"Our defense was not playing the way it was supposed to, and in the fourth quarter they did," Eaton said. "They came out and they came back from 9. That's huge. That's a tough, tough win and a great game between, I think, two pretty good teams."
"Wheaton North did a great job," Kroehnke added. "They hung in there. They came back. We just need to play four quarters instead of three."
Two Thornton free throws tied the game at 56 with 3:42 to play, and Jones broke the tie with a free throw of her own with 2:47 left.
Jones earned a double-double with 10 rebounds to go with her 20 points. She also had 3 assists and 3 steals.
"Loose ball here, loose ball there," Kroehnke said. "That's about all it is when you play Wheaton North. It's a (one-)possession game."
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