JOLIET -- Faraway, fire-away perimeter play, stealthy man-to-man defense and the occasional feed inside or on the fastbreak were once the primary attributes of Joliet Township High School senior Taylor Foulks. But, folks, this is the new-found, fullcourt Foulks.
So, with 1:57 left in the second quarter Tuesday night, Foulks aggressively followed her missed 3-ball and banked in a putback for a 32-14 lead. Thirty-three seconds into the second half, the UIC recruit followed a teammate's botched layup with another putback.
Giving more. Nothing less.
"Yeah, I figured, 'Why just settle for the 3-pointer?'" Foulks said. "I want to be an all-around player. To accomplish more and to push my team more, I have to step up as a leader, as a captain, and do more of those things myself."
Folk stories sometimes are confused with fables. Before departing with her fourth foul, Foulks' story was fabulous. The 5-foot-9 guard shot 7-of-9 and finished with a game-high 16 points, lifting the Steelmen to a 56-32 Southwest Suburban crossover win at Joliet West.
Although steady Lincoln-Way Central (8-8, 3-3) was the victim, any opponent would have struggled against the ball-pressure defense of JT (9-8, 3-4) -- which snapped a two-game losing skid. Foulks, for one, closed with 4 rebounds, 2 steals and shot 2-of-3 on threes.
However, junior guard Jennifer Jorman added 10 points and 3 assists and sophomore guard Jasmine Plummer, senior guard/forward Marissa Draper and junior guard Adjoa Matthews combined for 12 of JT's 21 steals as the Steelmen attacked on defense as intensely as a morning jolt of Red Bull.
Pressure more. Nothing less.
"From the get-go, we said the defense has to feed us," JT coach Roger Plechaty pointed out. "We knew we wanted to turn up the defensive intensity. When we have a team on their heels, our girls build off that confidence, and I thought our shot selection was much better."
"Oh, absolutely, we've had trouble handling ball pressure all year long," Lincoln-Way Central coach Loren Hess said. "But as I told the girls at halftime, we wilt under pressure. We're reacting to the pressure. We don't do things that will slow down or dictate the tempo."
That tempo belonged to the tidal wave known as Foulks. She scored 10 points in the opening 4:49 of the first quarter, swishing a 3-pointer, a playground drive high off the glass, a second trey from the other wing and then a nice tuck-under drive for a 10-2 lead.
After a left-handed 3-ball by junior guard Keairra Collins (8 points, 2 steals) put JT ahead 13-2, Jorman's pair of free throws and a triple by junior guard Morgan Ryan with 1.1 seconds left built an 18-8 edge at the break. Ryan's 3-ball ignited an icing, 11-0 burst.
"It was the key," Foulks said of JT's start. "It has been our biggest struggle the whole year. We feel like if we can come out with intensity from the jump, then we will win the game. We've been lacking there, but we've been working on it in practice and we were good."
"To Taylor's credit, teams are going to key on her," Plechaty said. "We know
how she goes sometimes is how we go, and we needed a full team effort tonight. We definitely got that and the girls came out hard, especially on the defensive end."
Fueled by Plummer's 5 steals, Draper's 4 steals and Matthews' 3 takeaways, JT rode that defense to a 26-8 lead with 5:15 left in the second quarter. A lane runner by junior forward Dominique Carr, Collins' next 3-ball and Draper's dandy layup off a steal completed a spurt that essentially clinched.
On the flip side, Lincoln-Way Central closed within 15-8 at 12.1 seconds left in the first quarter on junior center/forward Hilary Soderborg's baseline drive, sophomore guard Kaitlyn Ray's lane jumper and a few freebies from senior forward Amanda Boyd.
Pressure, pressure, pressure.
"We didn't react to the pressure very well," nodded Boyd, who led the Knights with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. "They forced us into a lot of turnovers and we just didn't come together as a team this game."
"You hit on it right there -- as a team," Hess said. "That's the key -- as a team. With the exception of a nice run in the Medieval Classic, we have yet to play as a team this year. We didn't run our halfcourt sets accurately or well all night long, and it is becoming a frustrating pattern for us."
Much like a plane on a flight pattern, Boyd buried 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. Ray contributed 8 points and 2 steals on a pair of 3-pointers and Soderborg ended up with 7 points and 5 rebounds. The Knights shot only 9-of-28 overall and 12-of-24 from the Boyd-owned foul line.
"One of my strengths is definitely shooting free throws, so I wanted to get to the line more," Boyd said. "I think if we would have hit the easy shots we had going early and our free throws, that could have made it a closer game. You make your free throws and hopefully you can cut into the lead they had on us a little bit."
A little bit of free-throw oomph might have helped the Knights in the second quarter. They shot 5-of-11 from the line as JT posted a 34-16 halftime lead. In the third quarter, despite Foulks receiving her fourth foul, the Steelmen nailed a 17-6 run offset by Ray's trey, Soderborg's single free throw and a buzzer beater by senior guard Sarah Pinkerton.
Still, JT held a 51-22 lead after three quarters with enough scoring depth to float a boat. Carr chalked up 6 points, Ryan had 5 and Draper, who did not start, and senior forward Mariah Stamps (5 rebounds) each delivered 4. The Steelmen needed as such since Foulks suffered foul trouble, kicking herself for it.
Silly, silly, silly.
"Oh, yeah ... sorry," Foulks said, grinning but knowing that the Steelmen shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the floor and a super-fine 5-of-10 from 3-point range. "It was a dumb foul for me to get, and it didn't hurt us in the end because everybody was ready to contribute to the win."
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