Wheeling tunes up with strong second half

Wheeling's girls basketball team surely won't be short on momentum heading into Tuesday night's visit from Rolling Meadows.

The Wildcats will be coming off one of their best halves of the season.

Nursing a 23-20 lead at intermission against visiting Jacobs on Monday night, Wheeling came out sizzling in the second half to put away a 58-34 nonconference triumph.

"It was good to play (Monday) because we got a little momentum and we were able to get the weekend rust off," said Wildcats senior guard Hailey Dammeier, who tossed in 8 points as the Wildcats improved to 16-6 heading into their Mid-Suburban East test against the defending champs.

The second-half charge was fouled by senior Deanna Kuzmanic, who fired home 18 of her game-high 23 points. The Alabama-Birmingham recruit also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists while classmate Hannah Dobrowski chipped in 10 points.

"Hannah did a great job," said Wheeling coach Matt Weber. "She came out with a lot of energy and her teammates fed off that."

Energy was the password for the Wheeling's big second half in which it outscored the Golden Eagles 35-14.

"We talked about lacking energy in the first half," Weber said. "We played good defense that led to offense. When we play as a team and with a lot of confidence, good things happen. We were playing for each other in the second half."

Jacobs coach Joe Benoit liked the energy of Carly Sidor from start to finish.

The 5-foot-7 sophomore guard led the Golden Eagles with a career-high 17 points.

"I can't say enough about Carly," Benoit said. "We asked a lot of her to guard a player like Kuzmanic. As always, I'm really proud of Carly's effort."

Despite keeping a close eye on Kuzmanic, Sidor managed to get to the basket on numerous occasions to provide more than half of Jacobs' points.

"For a sophomore to do that against a MSL East team is pretty good," Benoit added. "She's really a sparkplug. She has been consistent with her energy all season."

She needed all her energy with the assignment on Kuzmanic, who has scored 20 or more points 12 times this season.

"It was definitely hard, she is a fabulous player," Sidor said. "I had a lot of fun guarding her.

"My coach told me it was a great opportunity. I took it as a challenge and tried to step up my game."

Wildcats sophomore forward Melissa Claver (6 points) stepped up her game on the boards and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Wheeling senior Lani Greenberg (6 points in the first half) made her first start in more than a month after returning three games ago from meniscus tear in her knee.

"More and more the rust falls off Lani," Weber said. "We'll get her going."

The Wildcats were going strong in the first four minutes of the third quarter, Kuzmanic went nearly coast-to-coast for a layup and added another layup while Dobrowski tossed home a 3-pointer and 6-footer in the lane for a 9-1 run.

The Golden Eagles (7-14) were coming off a loss to highly-regarded Huntley.

"We like our schedule," Benoit said of playing the tough opponents. "When we figure out how to compete for four quarters, we will be tough to beat."

Jacobs senior Jessica Powell was tough from long range, converting three 3-pointers for her 9 points. Classmate Jennifer Barnec had a couple of key buckets in the second quarter that kept the visitors close.

But the Wildcats shook free in the third quarter.

"We just knew we had to pick it up in the second half," Dammeier said. "We really wanted to run the floor."

Now they have a running start for their next test.