WW South wins barn-burner
As spent as Kasey Gassensmith looked, you'd think the Wheaton Warrenville South junior had played three games Thursday.
It almost felt like it.
The host Tigers opened up a 19-point lead on No. 9 Wheaton North in the second quarter, saw it disappear, then fought back in the fourth quarter for a 62-60 win.
“Coach (Rob Kroehnke) just told us to keep our composure the entire game,” said Gassensmith, who scored 21 points. “We had to keep our heads up. We're all thrilled with this win.”
WW South (11-5, 3-1 DuPage Valley Conference) is two-thirds of the way through a gauntlet of a week. And a fruitful one. The Tigers rallied from 4 down in the final 18 seconds to beat No. 10 Glenbard South on Tuesday. They play at No. 16 and DVC co-leader West Chicago on Saturday.
“I hope we have the legs on Saturday, because we were tired at times tonight,” Kroehnke said. “We can't let up. Not our game this season.”
WW South jumped all over its visitors early, Gassensmith canning two early 3-pointers to help build a 15-2 lead. It was 19-6 by the end of the first quarter, 25-6 early in the second after a Maggie Dansdill transition basket.
Kroehnke knew better.
“Like I told the girls, ‘If you think you're going to beat them by 40 points — you're not. You're not going to beat them by 40 points,'” Kroehnke said.
Indeed Wheaton North came alive out of a timeout with a 15-1 run sparked by Maddie Baillie's three 3-pointers. Baillie scored 21 points for the Falcons and hit 5 of her team's dozen 3-pointers. The margin was down to 30-25 by half, and Baillie's gorgeous spin move in transition gave the Falcons their first lead, 36-34 with 4:55 left in the third.
Mandy Traversa's 3-pointer pushed the Falcons lead to 41-36, but Gassensmith answered with a 3-pointer of her own.
Wheaton North's lead was 47-46 at the quarter, and after two lead changes Hannah Credille's driving layup with 5:11 left gave WW South the lead for good.
“We always talk to our kids about staying level,” Kroehnke said. “No greater example than tonight.”
Credille scored 11 points, Kelly Langlas 8 and Annie Shain 7 for WW South, which beat Wheaton North for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Tigers used their opponents' aggressive ball pressure to their advantage with hard cuts to the hoop and fastbreak baskets.
“They're a great team,” Kroehnke said, “and they're a great team because they put defensive pressure on you. You have to attack their pressure. We didn't want to sit back on our heels at all.”
Traversa added 15 points and Sydney Sharkey 10 for Wheaton North (9-5, 2-2). Fantasia Vine, in foul trouble throughout, scored 7, but 5 came in the final minute with WW South in command.
“We didn't put 32 minutes together. That's been our team's M.O. all year,” Falcons coach Dave Eaton said. “When we play complete games we look really good, but we haven't enough.”
WW South's 62 points were the most Wheaton North has given up in a non-overtime game this season. The Falcons earlier this week learned they will likely be without senior AK Feltes (slight patella tendon tear) for the rest of the season.
“We can score, but we got to have a little more heart at the defensive end,” Eaton said. “This is a gut check. Everybody needs to look in the mirror. Everybody likes to score, but nobody really likes to play defense.”