Defense keys WW South win over Lake Park
When all else breaks down, Wheaton Warrenville South can still count on its defense.
Kasey Gassensmith made sure of it.
The Tigers sophomore knocked away a Lake Park inbounds pass in the final seconds, and WW South held on for a 27-26 win on Tuesday night in Wheaton.
After a Lake Park missed 3-pointer, the Lancers called time out with 5.1 seconds left. Gassensmith deflected the inbounds pass from the baseline into the backcourt, and time ran out as the teams scrambled for the loose ball.
"I thought the pass was kind of high and I could probably get it," said the lanky, long-armed Gassensmith, "so I just jumped, used my height. It's all about composure. We just had to hold ourselves together at the end."
WW South (16-5), which won for the 10th time in 11 games, set a team record for fewest points scored in a win. The Tigers scored 32 in an overtime win over St. Charles East in November.
Two Katie Ottolin free throws with 4:36 left gave WW South a 27-23 lead - the Tigers' last points. WW South missed three front ends of 1-and-1 free throws in the final minute, after hitting 8 of its first 10 attempts.
"We made the stops when we had to," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "Lake Park plays some really tough defense, but our kids just kept battling. Boy, we had chances to put it away and we couldn't. We had to hold on with our defense."
A Tori Clark 3-pointer pulled Lake Park (12-10) within 27-26 with 48.4 seconds left, but the Lancers missed a pair of shots for the lead in the final minute. The finish was excruciatingly similar to a 1-point loss to Waubonsie Valley last Friday, when the Lancers missed a last-second shot for the win. The Waubonsie defeat snapped a six-game Lancers winning streak.
"That last play came down to execution," Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said. "We have multiple looks and it comes down to decisions and sharpness. We just didn't have it on that last play. Give credit to Wheaton."
Lake Park jumped out to a 15-5 lead midway through the second quarter behind 6 early points from Chelsea Gieseke and 4 from Carly Willert. WW South made 2 of its first 18 shots, but a Caitlin Schwark driving layup and 3-pointer pulled the Tigers within 15-12 at half. Destiny Neal scored on a cut to the basket to give WW South its first lead, 22-21 going into the fourth quarter.
Schwark scored 8 points and Ottolin and Neal 6 each for WW South. The Tigers also managed 11 offensive rebounds, critical in a game where points came at a premium.
"Kasey made a great play at the end," Kroehnke said, "but you can probably count 10 different plays our kids made in the fourth quarter to win the game."
Clark and Gieseke both scored 8 points for Lake Park. Gieseke, the Lancers' leading scorer, got just 3 shot attempts after halftime.
"They were really collapsing on Chelsea," Fruehling said. "From there we had a hard time pulling the trigger from the outside. That put us on our heels a little bit."