York takes Silver title with win at Downers Grove North
Sydney Fuglsang and her York teammates scratched a seven-year itch Tuesday.
Fuglsang hit her last four shots, including the clinching layup after a steal with 14 seconds left, to lift the visiting Dukes to a 41-34 victory over Downers Grove North.
The win clinched the West Suburban Conference Silver Division championship for the Dukes (22-6, 10-2), who last won the league title in 2013, when they shared it with Proviso West. This is York's first outright conference crown since 1994.
"We worked our butts off since preseason for this moment," said Fuglsang, a senior guard who tallied 8 points. "We knew this was the team (to do it).
"We said at the beginning that this was our year."
Downers North (22-6, 8-3) beat York 37-29 in the first meeting between the teams this season and would have clinched at least a share of the title with a win. But the Dukes never trailed, gradually building a 33-23 lead following Megan Juneman's putback with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
The Trojans used an 8-0 run to pull within 36-34 on a three-point play by star guard Ellie Gross at the 1:50 mark of the fourth quarter. But a potential go-ahead 3-pointer rimmed out and York forward Sydney Molis sank both ends of a 1-and-1 with 35 seconds left.
"It was a close game, but I feel like once I got out there, I just had to take a breath and relax and I had to block out everyone else," Molis said. "I knew those free throws were literally the make or break of the game and it was so important to make them, so I took a breath and hit them."
The Trojans then missed two free throws before York center Kaitlyn Kjome split a 1-and-1 with 27.7 seconds to go to extend the lead to 39-34.
Fuglsang, who held Gross to 5 points, then stole a pass intended for Gross and cruised in for the basket that sealed the deal.
"She's an overall all-area player, so getting that steal from her to end the game, it was a great feeling," Fuglsang said. "I wish I could play it over and over again."
Downers North coach Stephan Bolt said York deserved the win.
"All the credit goes to them," Bolt said. "I think they had a great game plan, they executed well.
"What it comes down to when it's two competitive teams like that is, they made more plays and they beat us doing that."
Sara Krissinger tallied a game-high 11 points for York, while Juneman and Kjome each scored 6 points. Kjome added a game-high 9 rebounds to help the Dukes to a 29-16 edge on the boards.
Alexis Parker led Downers North with 10 points. Kate Gross had 6 points and Ellie Gross 5 points and 6 assists.
"I'm so proud of these girls," York coach Brandon Collings said. "It's been a goal from the beginning of the year.
"I'm proud of the way we fought today, especially coming off the loss (to Lyons). It was kind of an all-or-nothing game for us here."