Girls Basketball: Janee Thompson propels Young past Proviso East

Updated: December 9, 2011 11:10PM

Whitney Young’s Janee Thompson was almost apologetic after the Dolphins squandered nearly half of a 16-point lead in the second quarter of Friday’s game against visiting Proviso East.

“Yeah, we just had a short defensive lapse, a couple of mental lapses, and that’s what kind of made us fall off,” she said. “Coach [Corry Irvin] called a timeout and got us back together. We picked the defense back up.

“It was just a couple of mental lapses, a couple of missed boxouts,” the Kentucky-bound guard added. “We gave them baskets where we should have had the rebound.”

Striving for perfection is never easy.

After Proviso East sliced what had been a 30-14 deficit to 34-25 with 3:48 remaining in the second quarter, No. 1 Whitney Young (6-0) closed the first half on a 16-6 run and rolled to 79-51 victory at the Chitown Showdown hosted by the Dolphins.

Thompson led Young with 29 points, six steals and five assists. Five-foot-8 junior Linnae Harper had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and 5-10 senior forward Alexis Lloyd added 18 points.

“I think we’ve been coming along pretty well,” Thompson said. “I see us improving every day. As long as we keep working hard and pushing ourselves, I think we’ll eventually become that solid team that we’re looking to be.”

Six-foot-3 forward Jakeisha Wells scored 16 points for No. 21 Proviso East (7-2), which also got 13 points from 6-1 forward Kalea Parks and seven from 5-5 senior guard Stacey Welch.

“[Young’s] good,” Proviso east coach Ezra Pridgeon said. “I have a whole lot of respect for them. We just have to settle down and play our own game instead of rushing. We kind of rushed a little bit [late in the second quarter].

“If we take care of basketball, box out a little more and rebound, we would have made it more competitive,” he added. “But it’s a good game for us, to play a team of this caliber will toughen us up down the road.”

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