WW South remains in tie atop DVC
Rob Kroehnke can finally say it — “one more.”
Kroehnke’s Wheaton Warrenville South Tigers are one win away from at least a share of the DuPage Valley Conference title after beating West Chicago 57-45 on Tuesday in Wheaton.
WW South (20-6, 11-2), which kept pace with Naperville Central, hosts West Aurora on Thursday while Glenbard North plays at Naperville Central.
WW South hasn’t won the DVC since the 2007-08 season, and you can sense Kroehnke’s relief at seeing the finish line.
“It’s been a great race,” Kroehnke said, “and we’re finally to the end. Thursday night we have an opportunity. That’s all we can ask for.”
Contributions throughout the lineup, a Tigers’ calling card all year, came through again. Kasey Gassensmith scored a game-high 17 points and freshman Meghan Waldron had an outstanding all-around game with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
But just as important were the 8 points off the bench from Krysta Watts and 8 from freshman Maggie Dansdill. WW South is 13-1 over its last 14 games.
“I told them in the locker room that this season has been so much fun,” Kroehnke said, “because there’s somebody different stepping up. Not just every night but every quarter. I love this a lot more than just having one or two really good players. We’re very deep and lucky to have kids that help each other out.”
WW South needed it to fight off a gritty West Chicago effort.
Down a key player with starting guard Allie Tapanes spraining a thumb in practice Monday, West Chicago (16-9, 7-6) dug a 20-11 deficit midway through the second quarter. But the Wildcats clawed back to 24-18 by halftime, and 35-30 through three quarters.
A Claire Monroe 3-pointer with 4:34 left cut the margin to 43-39, and West Chicago had a shot to draw closer following a WW South turnover. But the Wildcats turned it back over, and Gassensmith got loose for a score on an inbounds play to stem the tide.
“We can take some good things away,” West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said. “I’m not sure I’m looking for moral victories, but we’re a team that has not played really well the last 2-3 weeks against some of the better teams. We’ll see if we can gain some confidence from this.”
Monroe scored 14 for West Chicago, 11 in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Laura Panicali, brought up from JV, was a big spark off the bench with 11 points.
“I’ve been wanting to get her in,” Wallner said. “That’s maybe going to help us. We’ll see if maybe we can get Allie back for regionals.”
Like it did in a win over Wheaton North 10 days prior, WW South salted the game away at the free-throw line late. Five Tigers combined to make 14 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“Free throws were big for us,” Kroehnke said, “We had to get to the line, and we did a better job of that in the second half.”