Lisle falls to Mitchell, Newark
Lisle knew it would have a tough girls basketball matchup Saturday night against Newark and its 6-foot-3 sophomore center Jasmine Mitchell.
Too tough as it turned out.
The Lions fell 47-38 in the opening round of their Lisle Holiday Cage Classic.
"I thought that we did that we needed to do to win," Lisle coach Nick Balaban said. "They just made a few plays down the stretch that were tough plays over some good defense, and that was the difference in the game."
Mitchell led both teams with 23 points, showing good skills to go with her size.
"She was just a load," Balaban said. "She's big, she's strong, she's smart, asserts herself well. I felt she made some plays."
Newark took the lead in the second quarter and didn't let go until senior guard Sammi Maas' 3-pointer put the Lions ahead 31-29 with 6:51 to play in the fourth quarter. That ended a 16-4 run for Lisle.
Newark regained the momentum and the lead when Kelsea Zitt's basket with 3:47 to go put it ahead for good.
"I felt we could beat them, and we took a 2-point lead there in the fourth quarter. We fought back from a 9-point deficit," Balaban said.
Zitt scored 12 points, and Megan DiClementi also impressed Balaban with two clutch baskets for Newark in the fourth quarter. She finished with 6 points.
Sophomore guard Natalie Takahashi led Lisle (8-3) with 12 points, and Maas added 10. Junior Tyann Legrand-Melton scored 9 for the Lions, all in the first half.
"(Takahashi) had a rough go early on. They did a nice job of containing her," Balaban said. "And then she got a little more aggressive and found some openings in the seams of the defense. That allowed us to get some points, break down their defense and then allowed other people to get open like Sammi Maas, who knocked down some shots. I thought Tyann Legrand-Melton had a great first half, and then shots just didn't fall for her in the second. They kind of took her away a little bit, but that gave openings for Natalie and for Sammi Maas to make some shots."
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