Defense kicks in for Addison Trail
Addison Trail has seen its girls basketball defense make progress the past few games. On Tuesday the Blazers saw that defense earn a nonconference victory.
The Blazers held visiting West Chicago to single digits in each of the final three quarters, coming from behind to win 32-29.
"The last four games now, including this one, the defense has been absolutely phenomenal," Blazers coach Rob Schader said. "... Defensively, we've done a great job. It's just we've hit a wall offensively, having a real tough time scoring. And part of that is we're turning the ball over a lot too."
West Chicago (6-11) scored the game's first 9 points and led 12-3 after one quarter.
"They were in a (2-3) zone and I thought we moved the ball, reversed it and got some open looks, made some nice passes," said West Chicago coach Kim Wallner. "But then when they went man, we didn't execute. We didn't make enough shots. We didn't make any baskets. Turnovers, unforced, forced."
The Blazers held the Wildcats to only a Mae Elizabeth Gimre basket in the second quarter and trailed 14-11 at halftime.
"We just kind of kept chipping away, chipping away," Schader said. "We had girls diving all over the floor, just working really hard tonight defensively."
Addison Trail (3-12) tied the game three times in the third quarter, but the Blazers didn't take their first lead until junior Maria Koulogeorgas' lay-in with 3:30 to play in the fourth quarter made the score 25-24. Koulogeorgas scored all 7 of her points in that final 3:30, going 5 of 6 at the free-throw line down the stretch to deny the Wildcats. She also made a defensive play in the final seconds to thwart West Chicago as the Wildcats went looking for a game-tying 3-pointer.
"She was lights-out," Schader said. "She hit her free throws too, which was huge. That's what won the game. We were 11 of 16 from the free-throw line."
Blazers senior Rachel Baumgartner was the only player to score in double figures, getting 11 points to go with 6 rebounds.
Senior Cristina Hurtado led West Chicago with 8 points, and Gimre had 7 points and 6 rebounds.
"We had to play without (Gimre) for a while, and we struggled some, but we learned to kind of play without her a little bit," Wallner said. "... But ever since she's come back and now through our tournament and up to this game, we're not the same offensive team, and I don't know what's happened between that time. We're not really running anything different, some of the kids just don't have a lot of confidence right now, and so they're not shooting with any confidence. They also take their head out of it and don't read what's there."
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