Bisso finds her spot in WW South win
In a span of 48 hours, Sierra Bisso experienced the highs and lows of a shooter.
She’ll take it. Saturday was as good as it gets.
Two nights after going 0 for 9 from 3-point range against West Aurora, Wheaton Warrenville South’s senior guard hit a school record eight 3-pointers and scored a personal-high 30 points in the No. 4 Tigers’ 72-56 win over Hillcrest at the 23rd McDonald’s Shootout at Willowbrook High School.
Bisso broke Grace Delaney’s previous mark of 7 made 3s in a game, set back in the 2006-07 season.
“We were just working the ball around. We were all trying to get open, get everybody open shots,” Bisso said. “All of my teammates found me and we found each other. It was a great team effort.”
WW South coach Rob Kroehnke had a notion that Bisso would be key against Hillcrest, a team that has advanced to Class 3A state the last three years.
The Hawks (16-5) employ a 1-3-1 zone, with a soft spot in the corner. Kroehnke stationed Bisso more in the corner than usual, and Hillcrest repeatedly lost the little 5-foot-5 guard. Bisso’s fifth 3-pointer capped a 16-7 run out of halftime, giving WW South (18-3) a commanding 53-38 lead.
“I’ve seen Hillcrest play, I knew they were going to play that 1-3-1 and I told my assistants after Thursday Sierra has to get out of it,” Kroehnke said, “because she’s going to get open looks. Give her credit, give credit to the kids. They gave her a couple really nice passes to give her really good open looks. We knew she’d have to make shots to break up that zone.”
Several of those quick passes came courtesy of Tigers point guard Meghan Waldron.
With Northwestern coach Joe McKeown in attendance, Waldron scored 19 points with 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Hillcrest led 18-17 after a quarter and was up 24-23 with 4:55 left in the second quarter after a Dana Gettis score off a turnover.
Allie Zappia followed with a stickback basket, Waldron hit her second of three 3s and the Tigers never looked back.
WW South’s defense held the high-scoring Gettis, a Robert Morris recruit, to 17 point on 7-of-21 shooting.
“I knew Meghan would have to penetrate their zone and Sierra would have to make shots, and it would come down to if we wanted to play defense,” Kroehnke said. “We played fantastic defense in the second half.”
WW South also welcomed Diamond Thompson back to the lineup, and she made an impact in her return. Thompson, who missed five games with a torn meniscus, had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in close to 17 minutes.
“It was good to have her back,” Kroehnke said. “She played hard, and that’s all I’ve asked of her all year. She’s finishing with confidence around the basket and defensively she’s a presence.”
Olivia Linebarger added 8 points and 7 rebounds, which now gets four days off before a big conference game Thursday against Naperville Central.
“We knew that Hillcrest was a great team and a good challenge,” Bisso said. “I just wanted to do my best against this team, work as hard as I could, come out strong.”
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