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Girls Basketball: Wheeling rolls by Warren
Zion-Benton's Octavia Crump (3) and Samantha Rodriguez (21)struggle with Stevenson's Alexandra Elzinga (42).| Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
Updated: February 20, 2012 10:22PM
Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz, whose team had won 16 of its last 18 games heading into its Class 4A sectional semifinal Monday at Palatine, has seen it before.
“There are a couple teams you see every year that get hot at the right time,” he said. “Everything is going their way, they’re making shots, they’re playing inspired defense. They’re believing in their coaches and in their game plan, and they’re executing.”
But Stanczykiewicz wasn’t talking about his Blue Devils.
Wheeling (14-18), which started the season 1-14, got 13 points from senior Kellie Kuzmanic, 10 points from Leah Malsom and 9 points and 6 assists from freshman Deanna Kuzmanic to upend Warren 41-26 and earn a berth in Thursday’s sectional final against Zion-Benton.
Wheeling, the no. 14 seed, added sixth-seeded Warren to a list of vanquished that also includes No. 3 seed Libertyville and No. 7 Prospect.
“A lot of people didn’t think we’d make it,” Deanna Kuzmanic said. “But we had faith in the beginning of the season that we were going to do really well. I don’t know if we thought we’d do this well, but we did come through and play basketball the way we wanted to.”
The Wildcats built an 11-2 lead after one quarter, but Warren (21-9) closed to within 19-14 with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter. Wheeling answered with an 8-0 run ignited by a three-pointer from freshman Hannah Dobrowski.
The Widlcats defense did the rest, holding the Blue Devils to 7 of 41 shooting from the field including 1 of 18 from three-point range.
“All season we’re harping on defense, on being a defensive-minded team,” Wheeling coach Julissa Hernandez said. “Tonight we definitely showed it. Our goal is 10 or less points per quarter, and we made our goal defensively.
“We’re obviously peaking at the right time,” she added. “The girls stuck together. Starting 1-14, it’s really easy to say I can’t wait for the season to be over. This definitely shows what kind of team we are. The girls are mentally prepared and physically prepared to play anybody.”
Amanda Barger was the lone Warren player in double figures with 13 points. Wheeling’s sagging defense held 6-3 senior center Jessica Prince (10 rebounds) to 2 points on 1 of 5 shooting from the field. Taylor Coley came off the bench to add 5 points.
“If you can’t score, you can’t win,” Stanczykiewicz said. “Defense won the battle but shooting wins the war. The first couple of possessions we got the touches we wanted, but obviously they didn’t work out the way we wanted. I thought that affected us. It shouldn’t, but it did.
“Wheeling played the way we thought they were going to play,” he added. “Their defensive scheme wasn’t a surprise. We just didn’t make any outside shots, and against a team that really packs the paint and makes touches inside challenging, you have to hit some outside shots to loosen them up.”
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