Lisle wins in a rout, advances to sectional final
For the Lisle girls basketball team, the beat goes on. Figuratively, of course, but perhaps literally as well.
Prior to its Class 2A St. Joseph sectional semifinal Tuesday against Chicago Woodlawn, there was the entire Lions team, shooting practice free throws ... and swaying to the beat of rapper DaBaby, smiling and enjoying themselves.
And then the smiles disappeared as the top seed took care of business, blitzing the Warriors 47-12 to move on to Thursday's 7 p.m. sectional final against Chicago Marshall, the No. 2 seed. The Commandos destroyed Chicago South Shore 59-9 in the other sectional semifinal at St. Joseph.
"I think that at the beginning of the game, we're all happy and hyping each other up, and it's never tense. I don't know how to explain it," said junior guard Emma Rossin, who led all scorers with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first quarter to stake the Lions to a 16-1 lead at its conclusion.
"It's a great group of girls to work with, because if one person is down, we have the whole team to pick them up," added fellow junior guard Abby Casmer, who chipped in all 10 of her points in the third quarter to put away the Warriors (14-6).
That loose, confident feeling is something that's not lost on Lisle coach Nick Balaban. He said he plays music at practice, sometimes all the way through practice.
But when game time comes, look out. No way on earth the Lions would get caught slipping Tuesday. And by slipping, we mean looking past Woodlawn and looking ahead to Marshall. Not bad for a team composed of mostly juniors and sophomores.
"We think present, in the moment, so that we think about what's in front of us," junior forward Hannah Baur said.
That sort of mindfulness allowed Lisle to outrebound Woodlawn 33-18, with 9 coming on the offensive end. That output made for the 16-1 lead after the first quarter ... and a 28-1 advantage at the half.
"The one thing about this group, and I've said it since Day 1, the camaraderie, the chemistry, they enjoy each other's company," Balaban said. "They conduct themselves businesslike. They conduct themselves matter-of-fact like. They don't get caught up in anything, and this has been a great group to work with every day.
"We just get the work done."
You want businesslike? Try forcing 21 Woodlawn turnovers and a fourth-quarter running clock, which allowed Balaban to clear his bench. In other words, everybody played and everybody contributed. And everybody had a good time.
"They know what's ahead of us," Balaban said. "We just have to be prepared to defend, rebound and take care of the basketball, and if we do that, we can put ourselves in a pretty good position. But Marshall is Marshall."
Indeed. The Commandos were led by 14 points from junior guard Jayonna Smith against South Shore, while 6-foot-3 senior center Kenosha Walker chipped in 10 points.
"We came before our game to watch the first half," Rossin said of the Marshall-South Shore tilt. "I think it will be a good opponent."