Girls Basketball: Lemont’s Motto on three range

Updated: January 16, 2012 8:19PM

Lemont’s Kelsey Motto made her first impact on the varsity as a sophomore in February 2011 when in a Class 3A regional game against Morgan Park she scored 14 points in the second half, hitting four three-pointers.

One knee surgery later, she’s a record-setter.

The junior guard-forward set a school standard in three-point shooting Jan. 10, converting seven of them and totaling 29 points as the Indians defeated Reavis 46-29.

Motto was 4-of-4 from three-point range in the first quarter and finished the night 7-of-8, her only miss coming on a halfcourt shot at the end of a quarter.

“I don’t know, I was just feeling fine that night,” Motto said. “As I kept making them I kept on shooting more and more. My teammates were giving good passes and I had open shots.”

Motto started the season late, having had surgery on her left knee in May for an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

“She hurt her knee before I think she was even in high school and never really did anything to it,” Lemont coach Bill Bozue said. “She kept injuring it, and I think it finally got to the point where it was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do something about this. You can’t just keep wearing a brace and have it be good for a game or two and then hurt it again.’ ”

Motto missed the first few games of the season but since has been a steady contributor, averaging 8.1 points and leading the team with 29 three-pointers.

Big chance

Thursday night it will be showdown time in the Southland Athletic Conference, when No. 9 Rich South hosts No. 4 Rich Central.

The Olympians will be bringing in a 6-0 record in league play, which includes a 53-43 overtime victory Dec. 8 over Rich South. Jessica Warren had a double-double for Central in that game with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The Stars (4-1) are scheduled to play Kankakee on Wednesday in a makeup game that was snowed out Thursday. A win there, and then Rich South can take its best shot.

“Yep,” Rich South coach Brian Mays said. “We’re looking forward to it. The biggest thing going for us is our post play has gotten better since that first game. That’s pretty much been our issue the whole season.

“In our last game, though, one of my girls had 13 rebounds. So at least they know what a board is now.”

Verneisha Anderson, a 5-foot-10 junior, mastered the boards in a 52-47 win Jan. 5 over Crete-Monee.

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