West Chicago denied title repeat

West Chicago's bid for a repeat at the Oswego East Holiday Classic came up short Thursday night.

The No. 1-seeded Wildcats lost 66-53 to third-seeded Andrew in the championship game of the four-day tournament.

After going 3-0 heading into the tournament's final game with wins against Joliet Central, Lemont and Downers Grove South, West Chicago ran into a defensive-minded group in the Andrew Thunderbolts.

"You've got to give Andrew all the credit, they played very well tonight," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said. "I had watched them put a lot of defensive pressure on other teams. We didn't get into our offensive sets, they put pressure on the basketball and that hurt us."

West Chicago (12-3) held a 6-2 lead before Andrew connected on its first field goal of the game with 4:30 left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats led 14-11 going into the second quarter and were up by as many as four points against the Thunderbolts. A Mary Connolly basket gave West Chicago a 21-19 lead, but that was the last time the Wildcats held the advantage.

Molly Franson's 2-pointer and free throw put Andrew up 24-21 with 2:37 to go in the second quarter, and the Thunderbolts never trailed again.

"We weren't composed under their pressure and we turned the ball over," West Chicago junior guard Claire Monroe said. "That's part of the reason why we didn't win tonight."

West Chicago managed only one field goal and was outscored 13-4 in the third including a buzzer-beater by Franson that put her team up 39-30 going into the final quarter.

Andrew's biggest lead of the night was 16 when Franson's basket made the score 55-39, but the Wildcats managed to keep pace down the stretch, closing the gap to as little as 8 points on three occasions.

"We should have been more competitive, but again, you have to give Andrew credit," Wallner said. "They took it at us and we didn't have an answer defensively."

West Chicago outscored its opponent 27-23 in the fourth as Connolly scored 10 of her 15 points. Monroe matched Connolly's game total with 15 points of her own. Both were named to the all-tournament team.

Franson led Andrew with 24 points, while teammate Shannon Clark finished with 20 on the night.