St. Joseph slips past improved St. Francis
How much has St. Francis improved already this girls basketball season?
"A lot," St. Joseph coach Andrew Winston said after his team squeaked out a 53-50 GCAC victory Thursday night in Wheaton. "They've got more confidence."
Winston should know. His Chargers also defeated the Spartans 65-47 on Nov. 27 at the Willowbrook Thanksgiving Tournament.
"I feel like since we played them last in the Willowbrook tournament we've done a complete 180," Spartans junior Mia Mazza said. "We look like a totally new team. And I think there's more room for improvement."
The Spartans (5-3, 1-1) jumped out to a 23-12 lead early in the second quarter on freshman Madison Wisted's three-point play.
"We switched up the game plan from last time," Spartans coach Melissa Taylor said. "Last time I didn't run a press or show anything of what we had. We put in a new press in the meantime and gave it a go, and it actually worked for us."
"Last time we played them in the Willowbrook tournament a couple of weeks ago, we had a real tough time getting things going," Mazza added. "And they're a really fast team. They play with a fast pace. It's tough for us to play against them and keep up with their transition. But the other day in practice we were working on situationals and stopping (the Chargers' Davane Gross) and their guards, and I think that really helped us get out on top and get the lead in the beginning."
The Chargers (8-3, 2-1) made an adjustment to the press and responded with an 8-0 run, and by halftime the Spartans' lead was down to 2 points.
Two Wisted free throws evened the score at 34 with 1:48 left in the third quarter. However, St. Joseph's Amber Brooks scored the final basket of the period, and the Chargers never trailed again.
The Chargers grew their lead to 8 points in the fourth quarter, their biggest of the night, but the Spartans showed spirit in battling back within a point on sophomore sophomore Antwainette Walker's putback with 11 seconds left.
Mazza led St. Francis with 14 points, Walker added 12 and Wisted 10. Walker also grabbed 11 rebounds.
St. Joseph sophomore Maia Marshall led all scorers with 20 points despite missing her first eight shots. She also grabbed 9 rebounds.
The Spartans have more than two weeks until their next game, at the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic. That leaves them plenty of time to continue to improve in practice.
"The sky's the limit," Taylor said, "and I push them to their limits from 1 through 16. Push and push and push every day. Got to compete and play hard."
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