Conant answers St. Charles East's runs

Conant spotted host St. Charles East the first eight points of each half in Tuesday night's fast-paced non-conference game, but remained unfazed on both occasions.

Junior point guard Nireet Dhillon provided a calming influence with 22 points and 8 rebounds while sophomore Jorie Wachal poured in 18 first half points to help the Cougars earn a hard-fought 70-64 decision.

St. Charles East senior guard Katie Claussner did everything possible to keep her team in the game with a dazzling, career-high 30-point performance. Kyra Washington added 14 points for the Saints.

"Every time they came up and attacked us, we just came right back," Dhillon said," We stuck together really well and handled the adversity."

"You can't expect to stop a good team every time down, but sometimes your defense has got to get that stop," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. "When you score 64 points, you should win a lot of those games."

The Cougars' aggressive play throughout proved to be the difference as they connected on 24-of-35 free throw attempts with Dhillon going 12 for 14 from the line.

In contrast, the Saints made 6-of-7 free throws.

"That was probably the most we've been to the free throw line all year," said Conant coach Deirdre Naughton. "We had that mentality right from the start that we were going to go after them and go to the basket."

"I feel like a broken record. We seem to foul a lot and put other teams at the line," Drumtra said. "Teams get a lot of easy points that way and that goes back to our defense."

St. Charles East (11-7) led the entire first quarter as Washington and Claussner combined for 14 points.

With the score tied at 28-28 late in the first half, Jorie Wachal tallied 10 unanswered points for Conant (15-3) in a two-minute flurry that included a pair of 3-pointers, a pull up jumper and baseline drive.

"Jorie has ice water in her veins," Naughton said. "That's Jorie, she doesn't think, she just plays and reacts and did a great job tonight."

Claussner took over at the start of the second half, driving to the basket at will. She tallied 11 points in the opening four minutes to put the Saints back in front 43-41.

"When we were down by 10, everyone kicked up the intensity," Claussner said.

"We couldn't really stop (Claussner), she's a great player," Naughton said "We didn't have an answer for her, but had to stop everyone else."

Conant moved back in front for good at 50-47 with 1:08 left in the third as Katie Lomas (12 points) hit a 3-pointer.

Claussner scored the Saints' first six points of the fourth quarter to stay within 55-53, but Dhillon answered with a layup and two free throws as the Cougars pushed the lead back to 60-53.

"That's one of the most aggressive games I've seen Nireet play," Naughton said. "That's how she can play and that's her game. She's most successful driving to the basket and going after it."

St. Charles East wouldn't go quietly as Kelly Rinker and Sam Monroe connected on 3-pointers to narrow the gap to 62-59 with 2:40 left, but the Cougars made 7-of-10 free throws in the final 1:08 to seal the win.

Sara Rosenfeldt finished with 8 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Saints, who lost their fifth straight after an 11-2 start.

"Even though we lost tonight, we played so much better as a team and I think that's a positive going into Thursday and Saturday," Claussner said.