Girls basketball: Lake Zurich’s size too much for Waukegan
Lake Zurich’s size was just too much for Waukegan.
The Bears’ trio of 6-foot-2 Alex Nowak-tice, 6-foot Leah Gilbertson and 6-2 Avery Cooper did not allow Waukegan many inside shooting attempts. That enabled Lake Zurich to a 44-28 win Thursday in the Class 4A regional final at Lake Zurich.
It was the third win of the season for the Bears over North Suburban Conference rival Waukegan. It was also the fourth consecutive regional title for Lake Zurich (24-7).
The Bears, who were seeded second in their subsectional, will play top-seeded sectional host and unbeaten Huntley Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“Happy to get a ‘W’ and our fourth regional in a row,” Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said. “Obviously, we had a big height advantage and that is our strategy most games. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. We know we have a big challenge for us Tuesday night.”
Lake Zurich used a solid second quarter to pull ahead 25-16 at the half.
The Bears broke to a quick 7-2 lead behind Leah Gilberston.
“I think we had a go at them early mentality,” said Gilbertston, who finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds, “We were trying to throw the first punches. We came out and brought the energy right away.”
But Waukegan’s early speed caught up to Lake Zurich as the Bulldogs surged ahead 12-11 after the end of one quarter. Waukegan would hit 6-of-10 shots in the quarter, but made just 5 of their final 28 shots.
It was all Lake Zurich in the second quarter as the Bears used a combination of solid defense and some key baskets to pull ahead for good.
Waukegan (17-10) missed their first 10 shots and turned the ball over four times. The Bears continued to get good shots of their own inside the paint.
“Our defense was awesome,” Bennett said. “We can defend. Our offense struggled a bit at times because Waukegan plays hard.”
Waukegan made a final attempt to get back into the game early in the third quarter, closing to 29-23. But a three-point basket by Layne Nordstrom and a pair of baskets by Nowak-Tice had Lake Zurich extend its lead to 36-24.
“We have a pretty tall team, so getting the ball inside is important,” said Nowak-tice, who led the Bears with 13 points. “We have to use that size to our advantage. Waukegan is a much shorter team and we did a good job of getting the ball inside.”
Leading 36-25, Lake Zurich then blew the game wide open early in the final period. Cooper ignited an 8-2 run and the Bears were on their way to Huntley.
“We hear it everywhere that defense creates offense,” said Cooper, who had 9 points and 10 rebounds. “That is kind of the breakdown point on our team. We had a pretty strong defense. Everyone has to work together to get steals and get stops.”