Monroe, West Chicago keep going

Other than the brace on her shoulder, it's hard to tell that West Chicago's Claire Monroe is playing with a torn labrum.

Her shooting stroke is as pure as ever.

Monroe hit five 3-pointers and scored 27 points, leading West Chicago past Plainfield Central 66-40 in second-round action at the Oswego East Winter Classic.

No. 3 seed West Chicago (8-4), champion at Oswego East two years ago and runner-up to Andrew last year, advances to play Metea Valley in today's 6:30 p.m. semifinal. Metea upset No. 2 seed Andrew earlier Wednesday.

Monroe dislocated her shoulder and tore cartilage in a freak accident at a college open gym a month before the season. She spent five hours in the emergency room and underwent physical therapy but postponed what would have been season-ending labrum surgery.

"Honestly, I'm just happy to be able to play," Monroe said. "When it happened I was really worried because I'd been training all summer. I thought, 'All that work was for nothing.'"

Instead, Monroe is shooting near 40 percent from 3-point range on the season, and has scored 20 or more points in four games. The Class 4A 3-point champion at state last year just passed 1,000 varsity points Tuesday.

"I can't lift my arm all the way, so even right-handed layups are hard sometimes," Monroe said. "I've got used to it. I've had to put more legs into my shot than arms."

"They told her that if she didn't wear the brace there's a 90 percent chance the shoulder would pop out again," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said, "where with the brace there's a 50 percent chance. We're playing the odds. She's feeling really good about her shot right now. She seems to like playing at this tournament."

Monroe is fortunate to be surrounded by other good guards that lighten the load. Laura Panicali, who scored 17 points Wednesday, and Allie Tapanes make up one of the area's better backcourt trios. West Chicago led 21-15 after a back-and-forth first quarter that featured a combined 19 turnovers.

But the Wildcats settled down after that, closed the half on a 10-0 run for a 36-18 lead and cruised home.

"We moved the ball well today," Wallner said, "and we were able to make the extra pass."

Liz Reyes, who scored 12 points in a win Tuesday, only had 4 Wednesday but provided a calming presence and another ballhandler off the bench. Brigid Hanley scored 17 points for Plainfield Central (8-5).