West Chicago comes back against Addison Trail
West Chicago needed a reminder of how good it feels to win a girls basketball game. The Wildcats got that long-awaited reminder Tuesday night.
The Wildcats ended a 10-game losing streak dating back to Dec. 1 by defeating visiting Addison Trail 53-43 in a nonconference game.
"We've been on a losing streak, so this game boosted our confidence," Wildcats senior Bria Williams said. "We really needed this. I'm really happy right now."
"It was nice for this group to get a win," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said. "It was nice."
"We just were completely not good today," Blazers coach Rob Schader added. "Our defense is what's killed us all year long."
It looked early on like Addison Trail (6-11) would get the win. A 9-0 run gave Addison Trail a 9-2 first-quarter lead, and at one point the Blazers were up 9 points.
"We played real well in the first quarter," Schader said. "The first quarter and a half we played pretty well and then about four minutes left with their pressure, they were really getting aggressive with it and we just turned the ball over a little bit and kind of went into a lull there for a while."
West Chicago (3-15) bounced back in the second period, taking a 21-20 lead on Amari Stafford's basket with 3:43 left. The Wildcats led 29-27 at halftime.
The Wildcats pulled away late, with sophomore Sierra Koenig's reverse layup putting them ahead 49-41 with 2:15 to play. Her basket with less than a minute to go made it a double-digit lead.
"We can't just have upperclassmen do it, so for our sophomores to come out and step up their game, that meant a lot to us. A lot," Williams said.
Koenig got to the basket often and led all scorers with 15 points off the bench. Williams added 12 points and 7 rebounds, and sophomore Sofia Radice added 11 points, also as a substitute.
"Bria played well tonight and that was good for her," Wallner said. "I thought she handled herself a little bit better because she's been getting in foul trouble lately where she gets frustrated a little bit and gets herself on the bench instead of on the court, and we're definitely better with her on the court."
Wildcats senior Amari Stafford scored just 4 points but found other ways to contribute. She grabbed 12 rebounds and 3 steals, and she played an important role in breaking the Addison Trail press.
"She's not the type of person to score a lot, but she looks for other people to score," Williams said. "She's that type of player who looks for assists, who looks for other people to score, and that's what we love about her."
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