Warriors cruise past Elgin in UEC
Waubonsie Valley took early leads of 9-0 and 17-3 in the first quarter of its girls basketball game Tuesday night against Elgin and never looked back, cruising to a 68-37 victory over the Maroons in Aurora.
The Warriors looked sharp right out of the gate, paced by senior Erin Decker's 5 first-quarter points. Waubonsie Valley (8-0, 1-0 Upstate Eight Conference) held a football-like 24-7 lead after eight minutes of play.
Though the Warriors let Elgin (0-7, 0-1) hang around a bit in the second quarter, Waubonsie Valley headed to halftime ahead by 20 points.
Even with the 20-point halftime advantage, Warriors coach Kris Kalivas found an aspect of her team's game to improve in the second half.
"I was a little disappointed in our defensive effort in the first half," Kalivas said. "I thought that we struggled a little bit giving up some penetration to the basket, so I was not happy with that, but … not a whole lot to complain about other than that."
Most of Elgin's dribble penetration came courtesy of junior point guard Caris Alan, who bobbed and weaved her way to 12 of her team's 29 first-half points.
"She played the hardest tonight, and she was, I felt, the only one that really showed up for us offensively and defensively," Maroons coach Angie Hudson said. "She's our girl that can drive, dish and pass, and she came to play tonight. It was nice to see her not give up or anything no matter what the score was."
Alan showed her tenacity even as her team trailed by more than 20 points in the fourth quarter, eventually picking up her fifth foul midway through period. Hudson would like to see the rest of her team emulate Alan's effort.
"We haven't had all five players showing up and playing all 32 minutes. That's been our big thing," Hudson said. "Hopefully, we'll get the 32 minutes together, with five kids playing together at one time."
Balance once again fueled Waubonsie Valley's offense, with three Warriors notching double digits in points. Junior forward Brittany Upshaw led Waubonsie Valley with 13, while seniors Lauren Brownridge and Decker contributed 11 and 10, respectively.
"I thought we were pretty balanced this evening," Kalivas said. "I thought the bench did a real nice job maintaining the lead that we had.
"We don't miss much once we sub."
St. Charles East 41, Glenbard North 20:ŒIt was a case of déjà vu for St. Charles East.
Three days after holding Neuqua Valley to 8-of-40 shooting from the field during a 39-20 triumph, the Saints' defense again showed its stingy side en route to a 41-20 nonconference victory over Glenbard North in St. Charles.
The Panthers connected on just 8 of 40 field-goal attempts while the Saints (4-4), who pocketed their third straight victory, also won the rebounding battle 38-25.
"What I'm real pleased with defensively is you give up the outside shot, but I don't want to give up second and third shots," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "We rarely did that (tonight)."
Trailing 5-2, the Saints went on a 16-2 tear over the next seven minutes to take control. Lexi Baltes scored all 5 of her points during the run, while Tasha Lalos added a 3-pointer and Jaime Rust made a pair of baskets, including a turnaround jumper.
"That was a sweet little move she made on the low block, turning and hitting that little fadeaway," Drumtra said. "I was like, 'Where did that come from?' "
The 5-foot-9 Rust, who led the Saints with 9 points and 6 rebounds, held her own down low trying to defend Panthers 6-foot forward Megan Ney and 5-10 forward Lauren Verner.
"You just have to get in front of them, stay tough, stay strong and box out," Rust said.
"She's our defensive specialist," Drumtra said of Rust. "She and Lexi (Baltes) kind of set the bar for us on defense."
The Saints also received significant contributions from their bench as Tara Sigona, Stephanie Roan, Lauren Joyce, Shannon Kennedy, Ashley Miller and Laura Aavang combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds.
"That was nice," Drumtra said. "That's the first game they've been able to do that. They got some quality time tonight."
After a slow start at the Schaumburg tournament, the Saints have worked their way back to the .500 mark.
"We've got our Christmas tournament (Wheaton North) seeding meeting (today) and I feel good about going there saying we're 4-4," Drumtra said.
Ney scored 7 points to pace the Panthers, who committed 19 turnovers.
"It's hard to get continuity when we turn the ball over," said Glenbard North coach Mark Glenn. "That's our biggest problem right now."
-- Craig Brueske
Downers Grove South 57, Addison Trail 47: Downers South's 17-5 first-quarter lead was the difference in the West Suburban Gold contest in Addison. Annie Brashaw scored 16 points for Downers South (4-4, 2-1). Erica Spear scored a game-high 25 for Addison Trail (2-8, 0-3).
Hinsdale Central 40, Oak Park 25: Visiting Oak Park managed but a free throw in the first quarter of the West Suburban Silver game. Hinsdale Central (8-0, 2-0) was led by Toni Kokenis with 15 points and 5 steals; Katie Delaney grabbed 9 rebounds.
York 36, Lyons Twp. 25: Also in the West Suburban Silver, York (4-5, 1-1) made 20 of 26 free throws to win in LaGrange. Meryl Cripe's 7 points led York, and Maggie Jackson had 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 points.
Boys basketball
Downers Grove North 59, Larkin 50:ŒAn undersized Larkin team fought hard through two quarters against Downers Grove North. Then the Royals got zoned.
"The zone opened everything up, and we just played hard," said Trojans junior Kameron Norton, after his squad's 59-50 win in Downers Grove. "We got a lot of turnovers off of that, and they couldn't really rebound with us."
"We got a little impatient with that. It's the first time we've seen that zone, but that comes with practice," said Royals coach Larry Hight. "We've got to be more ready for that, so that's my fault."
Larkin (0-5) only trailed Downers Grove North (5-1) 24-22 at halftime by hitting its open looks against the Trojans' man-to-man offense. A free throw and a pair of Ryan Shriver 3-pointers put the Royals up 19-12 in the second quarter, but the Trojans got teamwide scoring in earning a 12-3 offensive edge to halftime.
"We came out with some intensity," Shriver said. "But after halftime we just couldn't get any momentum going."
The Trojans' zone effectively shut down Larkin's offense in the third quarter, and Downers Grove North went up by 10 points on a Norton three-point play. A Thomas Benton layup put the Trojans up 41-29, before a three-point play by Larkin's Brandon Cooks cut his squad's deficit to 41-34.
The Trojans' zone shut the door on Larkin in the final quarter, and their advantage inside took over in the paint.
"We've got what -- like, seven 5-foot-9 guys?" Shriver said. "We've got to work on our rebounding."
"It'll help when we get everybody back healthy," Hight said. "Then we'll have the consistency that we want. The guys fought hard tonight, and that's all I can ask."
The Trojans led 54-38 late in the contest on a pair of Drew Vogler free throws before mass substitutions both ways saw Larkin's bench players play hard to the final buzzer during a 12-5 run to end the game.
The Trojans got 10 points apiece from Norton, Deon Thomas and Wesley Love, with Norton and Thomas pulling down 7 and 8 rebounds, respectively. Larkin got 8 points from Cooks, 6 from Terell Johns and 5 apiece from Jeff Saurbaugh and Nick Bee.
-- Gary Larsen
Batavia 83, DeKalb 42:ŒFollowing Tuesday night's 83-42 victory over DeKalb, Batavia's basketball team is now 2-0 in the early part of the Western Sun Conference schedule with an average victory margin of 33.5 points.
Given that is the same DeKalb team that beat Kaneland, and the Knights defeated Glenbard South, and Glenbard South beat Geneva, and the Vikings destroyed Yorkville, who in the Western Sun Conference is going step up and give Batavia a challenge this winter?
It leaves Sycamore, who the Bulldogs will face Dec. 21 a day before making up their canceled trip to Quincy.
But the way Batavia (5-0, 2-0) looked Tuesday, shooting 67 percent from the field through three quarters while holding DeKalb (2-4, 1-1) to 29 percent shooting, fans might have to find new ways to entertain themselves at Bulldog games this winter besides hoping to see a game on the line in the final minute.
-- John Lemon
Geneva 64, Yorkville 37:ŒSo far, the Geneva Vikings have enjoyed smooth sailing on the ship that is their home court.
In hosting its second Western Sun Conference game of the season, Geneva (5-2, 2-1) had similar results in running an opponent out of the gym.
The Yorkville Foxes (2-5, 0-1) were the victims this time, falling behind 19-3 after one quarter and ending up on the losing end of a 64-37 thumping.
"We're going to continue to go at this pace as much as we can," Geneva coach Tim Pease said. "We're pleased with how we are moving the ball around and we have a lot of different players scratching the scoring column."
Nine Vikings were in that scoring column, led by senior guards Max Cary and Alex Turnowchyk, with 12 points each, and junior forward Jeremy D'Amico, who added 11 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.
"We have a lot of point guards now, so I had to step up and become a big man," said D'Amico, who possesses a sharp outside shooting touch to go along with his improving game close to the basket.
"I have to contribute and get in there for rebounds, because everyone has to crash the boards," D'Amico added.
Yorkville enjoyed its only lead of the night when point guard Jordan Rollins opened the game with an offensive rebound basket on his way to a game-high 18 points.
While both teams employed zone defenses in the opening quarter, Geneva's trapping pressure caused more problems. The Vikings went to the locker room at halftime with a 35-14 lead, mainly by holding Yorkville to 5 of 24 shooting and forcing 13 turnovers.
"Early on, we were just trying take the ball out of Rollins' hands and trying to make him pass," Pease said. "If we could get a turnover or a deflection as the result of that, we were going to take it, as I just didn't want him to be the show."
Neither team enjoyed a major rebounding edge, as Geneva had 33 to Yorkville's 31 in the contest, but in the second half the Vikings' frontliners of Chris Jordan and Tyler Scofield, each with 8 points, and Rob Tauscher, with 6 points, were finding openings and cutting to the basket for easy layups.
It left Yorkville coach Jerry Farber searching for answers.
"We just lack a lot of confidence," Farber said. "When we don't make a lot of shots, our defense goes down and our turnovers go up.
"We have to turn that around," Farber added. "Right now, Jordan (Rollins) is the only one who has any confidence out there and he was able to withstand that."
Pease, on the other hand, has enjoyed the early returns this season, noting that if not for a poor opening eight minutes at Glenbard South on Friday, his team could be undefeated in conference.
In addition to clicking well in a fastbreak offense, the Vikings also were solid in half-court sets against Yorkville, leading to 56 percent shooting in converting 27 of 48 shots from the field.
"Our big guys can go out and play away from the basket out of our offense that we are running," Pease said. "They are cutting hard to the basket, and they can all go to the basket off the dribble.
"Having said all of that, we still have a lot of work to do."
-- Dave Heun
Seneca 47, Lisle 28: Visiting Seneca led 40-15 after three quarters of the Interstate Eight game. Lee Gorski grabbed 10 rebounds and 3 steals and Marcus Wilson scored 9 points for Lisle (1-7, 1-1). Seth Evans scored 17 points for Seneca (5-1, 2-0).