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Antioch knocks out Lisle in tournament quarterfinals

After the way his squad played Saturday against Lisle, Antioch coach Tim Borries should have a nice night's sleep.

The Sequoits girls basketball coach was a little restless Friday night trying to prepare his team for a Lisle squad that's dangerous inside. But Antioch blasted the Lions early and often on both ends of the floor while taking the quarterfinal of the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic 54-29.

The 12-2 Sequoits went away from their normal man-to-man defense and used a tenacious zone defense to force 14 Lions turnovers in the first half. Top-seeded Antioch stormed ahead 17-4 after one quarter and led 32-7 at the half en route to advancing to the tourney semifinals, where they will take on St. Francis.

"As soon as I found out who won last night I was concerned with their height going into this contest," said Borries, who coached against Lisle coach Nick Balaban a number of times when Balaban coached in the North Suburban Conference. "I've known Nick and he's always got his girls ready to play. I lost a little sleep last night preparing for this game, but boy did the girls respond."

Lisle (9-6), which used strong rebounding and a tough inside attack to win its tourney opener the previous night, just couldn't match up with the Sequoits, who led 15-2 six minutes into the game.

"Well, our reward last night for winning was getting to play them," said Balaban, whose team plays Monday afternoon against Newark. "They're a quality program and they're going to continue to be. I told the kids there's nothing to be ashamed of … they're one of the better teams in the area."

Sarah Mogensen was solid inside again for the Lions, but her chances were limited due to the number of turnovers by the hosts. Mogensen finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds but was held to just 4-for-8 shooting from the floor. Lisle made just two field goals in the first half before finally getting the offense on track in the second half.

Tyann LeGrand-Melton connected on a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter as she shared team-high scoring honors with Mogensen at 10 points. The sophomore guard is confident the Lions will learn a thing or two from the game and put Saturday's outcome behind them.

"We know we need to come out ready and be prepared for Monday," she said. "We need to take care of the ball a little better, but we'll be fine."

The Sequoits were without 6-foot-1 center Carly McCameron but had little trouble wining their ninth straight game. Erika Gallimore led Antioch with 10 rebounds, and sophomore sisters Ashley and Amy Reiser combined for 28 points and 10 steals.

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