Girls Basketball: Oak Forest heats up, downs Richards

Oak Forest senior Katie Swanson has a pretty simple theory on shooting.

“I’ve got to shoot a lot to make them,” she said. “Coach (Steve) Schanz always tells me to keep shooting, so I’ve got to keep shooting for our team. I know eventually they’ll fall.”

Eventually, they fell like a spray of fireworks for the Bengals in a 53-40 South Suburban crossover victory Tuesday over host Richards.

Swanson, after a 1-of-5 start in the first quarter, scalded the Bulldogs for 26 points. Maddie Baxa added 10 points and Emily Naegele 17 rebounds as Oak Forest improved to 10-7, 5-1.

Richards (8-6, 3-3) was paced by Brianna LeBeau (14 points, eight rebounds) and Sam Kusta (14 points, six rebounds).

The Bengals as a team were off kilter offensively in the first period, shooting just 2-of-14. Richards, meanwhile, dominated both outside (Kusta) and inside (LeBeau) for most of the first half.

When Kusta hit her third three-pointer of the game midway through the second quarter, it put Richards ahead 23-9.

The last few minutes of the first half saw the tide begin to turn, as Swanson lit up for 10 points and the Bengals got to within 27-20 at intermission.

Swanson made an even bigger contribution early in the third quarter when she drew a charge by LeBeau. It was her third foul. Moments later, the 5-foot-11 senior collected her fourth and missed the final 6:30 of the period.

Oak Forest seized its opportunity.

Baxa, who was scoreless in the first half, opened the third quarter by draining a three. It sent into motion a much more confident-shooting Bengals team that went 8-of-15 and outscored Richards 23-7.

“I think everybody helped out in the third quarter,” Baxa said. “We were all hitting and it helped us get back in the game.”

Take over the game, was more like it. The Bengals entered the fourth period in front 43-34. LeBeau returned at that point for Richards, but fouled out with 5:32 remaining.

“When she (fouled out) it slowed us down as a team and kind of took the enthusiasm out of everybody,” Bulldogs coach Jeff Kortz said. “We still played hard, but Steve did a good job, and they’re a good team.”

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