Reiser sisters, Antioch rise to the occasion
The Antioch girls basketball lead had hit 30 points on Tuesday night in North Chicago.
Evidently, that was a wake-up call for the home-standing Lady Warhawks of North Chicago. That’s when teammates Kylah Collins and Carolyn Leonard teamed up to make a run at the once-beaten Sequoits.
The Antioch lead had been cut in half.
And then one of the Sequoits’ freshman twins stepped up to stop the bleeding. Amy Reiser, a clear look-a-like to sister Ashley Reiser, somehow landed a bizarre bank shot. Both Reiser twins hit double figures to help leading scorer Paige Gallimore, as Antioch knocked off North Chicago 71-52 in a North Suburban Prairie Division opener.
“We had a big lead,” Antioch coach Tim Borries said. “And we were playing hard. And then we had a little letdown. We had that same letdown when we lost to Niles North (last Saturday). But if my girls play hard, they will be tough to beat.”
In addition to the freshman twins, the new-look Sequoits start sophomores Alexis Duehr and Kelly Johnson. Even with the senior Gallimore, who scored a game-high 22 points, it’s a young squad.
“This is a great experience,” Ashley Reiser said. “It’s awesome. It’s a whole new game. I’m still a little nervous.”
The Reiser girls were playing in middle school a year ago but both came to the varsity with AAU experience.
“Once we start playing, it’s really fun,” Amy Reiser said.
Ashley Reiser (10 points) opened this showdown game with a 3-pointer and Antioch (6-1, 1-0) was off and running. She had 7 of her team’s first 9 points. And then her twin took over with back-to-back scores. Amy Reiser closed the first quarter with a pair of free throws, and the twins had 13 of the team’s 17 points.
Surprisingly, Gallimore, who came in averaging 27.3 points per game, got off to a slow start in the scoring column. She had only 5 points at halftime.
“Paige has been in a zone lately,” Borries said. “She takes the ball to the basket. She can shoot from the outside. And she can score from the foul line. She had a quiet 22, but we had some scoring help tonight.”
Everyone seemed to get into the act early for the Sequoits. In the second quarter, Duehr got on the board with a three-point play. Shannon Zogran took a hint from Duehr’s play and almost finished off a four-point play. She missed her free throw following a 3-pointer. Sage Keyes sent the game to halftime with a 3-pointer as Antioch took a 38-21 lead.
North Chicago’s Tineesha Coleman had 13 of her 17 points before halftime. The Warhawks hit a snag in the third quarter, as they didn’t score a field goal until five minutes had passed. That paved the way for Antioch to open a 30-point lead.
By this time, Gallimore began to find her shot as she jumped into double digit scoring in the third quarter. Her 3-pointer halfway through the fourth quarter helped the Sequoits hold onto their lead.