LeGrand-Melton has hot hand in Lisle triumph

Senior Night wasn't as much of a motivating factor for Lisle senior TyAnn LeGrand-Melton as Thursday's girls basketball opponent.

"No, I just really wanted to beat Peotone," LeGrand-Melton said.

Thursday's game played the rivalry role to the hilt, with the host Lions hanging on for a 47-45 victory.

"I've heard that from many of the players that they wanted to beat Peotone," Lisle coach Nick Balaban added. "Senior Night, yeah, that's a big deal, but ... It's not our main rival, but it's a good rivalry. We've got a good rivalry going with them."

"They're always ready to play, always aggressive, really tough to beat," LeGrand-Melton added of the Blue Devils. "So I just want to beat them."

It showed in the way LeGrand-Melton's first half went. She scored 17 points in the half to help the Lions to a 33-23 advantage.

"That's one of the best performances in a half from anybody I've seen here at Lisle," Balaban said. "It was nice to see her do that on Senior Night."

LeGrand-Melton finished with 23 points on a combination of snaking drives to the basket and four 3-pointers, her best showing for the Lisle varsity. Junior Natalie Takahashi added 17 points and 4 steals.

The Lions (18-10, 8-3) played well in the first half as a group, making 12 of 19 shots, including 6 of 8 from the 3-point arc. They committed just 5 turnovers, and the Lions held the Blue Devils to just 10-of-23 shooting.

"We felt good, but we felt like they were going to come out ready to play, because they're a team that likes to come back," LeGrand-Melton said.

The Lions' shooting touch abandoned them in the second half, though, when Lisle managed to sink just one field goal the final 16 minutes. They survived by making 12 of 16 free throws in the second half.

"Early on they were kind of extended (defensively in a 1-2-2 zone) because we were hitting shots from the perimeter," Balaban said. "Then when we weren't hitting shots that defense shrunk in the lane and it didn't allow TyAnn or Natalie to get into the lane. That was the big difference."

The Lisle lead peaked at 13 points in the second half, but each time the Lions seemed about to pull away, the Blue Devils came right back. Still, the Lions never gave up the lead.

"I'm not going to lie, toward the end there we thought they were going to give us a run for our money," LeGrand-Melton said.

Elizabeth Coffey scored 19 points and Isabelle Kurowski 16 for Peotone.