Gibler helps ICCP score a victory against Wheaton Academy
With the way she felt about her shot, IC Catholic Prep's Claire Gibler wanted the basketball Tuesday night at Wheaton Academy.
But the Knights' freshman guard also really wanted the ball following misses by other players on the court. It was both Gibler's game-high 16 points and her strong rebounding that helped the Knights complete a two-game sweep over the Warriors with a 49-37 Metro Suburban Conference West Division win in West Chicago.
The Warriors (10-5, 1-3) led 9-4 after one quarter, but Gibler hit a pair of 3-pointers in each the second and third quarters as ICCP took a 31-26 lead after three quarters and then pulled away in the final quarter by sticking with its strong defense and rebounding and knocking down late free throws.
"I think the third quarter was one of our strongest (quarters this season). We had a lot of our players step up," said Gibler, who had 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots to go with her big night on offense. "We want to get everything together for when we hit the playoffs. It was a good solid game."
With Wheaton Academy up 17-10 following a pair of Jamie Netzley free throws with 3:32 left in the first half, Gibler sparked an 8-0 run to close out the half with the first of her two 3s in the quarter.
"Yep, it was one of my better games this year. I was feeling good tonight. As soon as I released it I knew it was going in," she said when asked if Tuesday's effort ranks as one of her best this season.
The Knights (11-8, 3-5) went with a different starting lineup, due in part to coach Aubree Schuett's desire to have Anjella Farmer slowly work her way back in from an injury. But with Gibler coming up big, Chiara Gaudio driving to the basket for timely lay-ups, and Erin Maloney playing solid defense on Warriors star guard Netzley, the visitors knocked off Wheaton Academy for the second time this season.
Schuett said her team has made big strides on the glass of late and it showed on Tuesday when they outrebounded the hosts 35-23.
"We've been focusing on it a lot and it's something we've been really harping on," she said. "We lost a couple games over Christmas out at Oswego because of that, so during a 10-day hiatus where we didn't have any games we took a couple skills and hammered them as much as we could to try and make it a habit. And it's translated in the games we've played the last two weeks. I've been real pleased with that."
For the Warriors, Elizabeth Melby had a pair of 3s to finish with 12 points, while Netzley made 6 of 7 free throws to finish with 11 points.
"We ran out of steam in the second half. I think our conditioning was a factor for us tonight," said Warriors coach Beth Mitchell, whose team hasn't played in two weeks and also was missing many players at practice who were on trips during the break. "We just got complacent I think on the offensive end of the floor and we struggled to score. But they're a good team. They've always been scrappy. Aubree does a great job with their team."