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West Chicago opens tourney with loss

West Chicago did not leave first-round action at the Oswego East Holiday Classic with a victory Monday night, but the Wildcats still left the court feeling pretty good.

After a tough start against a 10-win Harlem squad, the Wildcats played a little better in the second quarter and then a lot better in the third before falling 57-40 to the Huskies, who will now take on Sycamore in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

West Chicago (5-8) fell behind 18-8 after one quarter and struggled early on to contain Huskies junior McKaela Schmelzer, who tallied 16 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Once the Wildcats switched from man-to-man defense to a zone, Harlem had a more difficult time getting into the paint.

"We tried to play man, but they were pretty quick," Wildcats coach Kim Wallner said. "We just are still working on some fundamental things man to man so maybe I should have gone to zone a little quicker. That seemed to get them to not penetrate as much … . I thought it slowed them done a little bit."

West Chicago, which faces Plainfield Central at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the consolation bracket, made a push in the third quarter and got within 38-30, then had a 3-point shot from Amari Stafford roll in and out. The 11-4 run to start the second half seemed to fluster Harlem (10-3), which had 9 turnovers in the third quarter.

A lot of the Wildcats' damage was done by a group of reserves, including Stafford, who scored a team-high 10 points off the bench with a pair of 3s and also 3 steals.

"I was kind of happy with the group we had out there because we had a nice run. We got a few steals and a couple good shots," said Stafford, who played at times in the game with a pair of Wildcats freshmen, Catherine Miller and Sofia Radice. "Even though we didn't win we still got something good out of it. We're improving every time we play."

West Chicago welcomed back guard Mae Elizabeth Gimre, who had missed two weeks with a twisted ankle. But Schmelzer was the difference on this night, especially after Wildcats forward Bria Williams was plagued by early foul trouble. Williams finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds, but had limited minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls in the first quarter.

Huskies coach Luanna Kish said Schmelzer has been the team's leader this season, but the team's strong start has also been due to a total team effort.

"She's a varsity returner, our leader, but again they all played around her," the Harlem coach said. "They know what she's capable of. It's a team effort, in order to get her open shots. And if someone leaves her a seam, she's going to take it."

Earlier in the day at Oswego East, Metea Valley knocked off Lemont 47-44 behind 16 points from Lisa Logan. The Mustangs play Proviso East in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

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