Stay Connected with YourSeason
Girls Basketball: Wheaton Academy takes down West Aurora
Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: January 5, 2012 10:32PM
In the later stages of a close basketball game, it can come down to just a couple simple plays to make the difference between winning and losing.
In Thursday’s DuPage Valley Conference game between West Aurora and Wheaton North, it was the Falcons that were on the winning end of those plays.
It was a one-point game with 1:06 left in the game, but West Aurora turned it over twice and Wheaton North went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to ice a 59-55 win.
“We switched up and went man,” Wheaton North coach David Easton said. “We were in zone all day. I thought if we went man, the pressure may cause a little bit of fit. We got a couple big turnovers, and that was good to see.”
A layup and two free throws from Chrissy Baird to start the fourth quarter staked the Falcons (8-7 overall, 3-2 DVC) to a 48-40 lead. But West (7-8, 0-4) would not go away. A three-point play from Abriya Zeitz, a three-pointer from freshman Alexis Wiggins and two free throws from Liz Skaggs helped the Blackhawks cut the lead to 54-53 with 1:52 left.
But with 1:06 left and 33 seconds left, West threw the ball away, not getting a shot on either possession. By the time Alexis Nelson missed a three-pointer with 17 seconds left, Maddie Baillie had hit a pair of free throws for Wheaton North and Reilly Stewart went 3-of-4 from the stripe to give the Falcons the win.
“We just made some silly turnovers at the end that cost us the game,” West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said. “We lacked some defense at times. It’s just little things. We’re just this far away all the time.”
Despite a size disadvantage, West was able to narrowly win the rebounding battle, thanks to Skaggs. She hauled down 16 boards to go with her 13 points. Zeitz led West with 16 points.
“They’re a tough matchup,” Easton said. “They caused some mismatches inside with (Skaggs and Zeitz). Our kids did a pretty good job tonight of just hanging around, and they hung around long enough for us to start to play a little bit. (West Aurora is) playing well. That’s a big win for us.”
Baillie led all scorers with 20 points for the Falcons. Jaquala Hillman added 11 points and six steals in the win and Brooke Schanowski added 10 points off the bench.
“We’ve improved a lot since our first game,” Baillie said. “Everybody is stepping up big. Our bench is coming through, which is awesome. Everybody is just learning how to play together because we’re still a young team.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment