Hughes, Warren able to knock off Lake Zurich
Welcome to the rough-and-tough world of girls basketball, Jordyn Hughes.
Yes, the Warren freshman looks like a player to keep an eye on.
"Against Zion, I hit my head on the floor," said Hughes, who was out two weeks with a concussion.
On Tuesday night at Lake Zurich, Hughes shook of the cob webs and scored her team's first 10 points of the game. Still, it was anyone's game at halftime as Warren held a 22-19 lead.
Hughes finished with a game-high 18 points and 3 steals, and the Blue Devils held the Bears to just 7 second-half points in a 46-26 North Suburban Lake Division romp.
"In the last few weeks, we have played better defense - old-style Warren defense," said Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz. "We went into a zone in the middle of the season and now we are back playing Chuck Ramsey (former boys coach), 'Coach Stan' man-to-man defense."
Hughes clearly had a great beginning in her post-concussion start, as she scored inside and outside. Her loan 3-pointer gave Warren (7-14, 2-8) an 18-15 lead in the second half. The Bears (9-3, 4-6) stayed with the Devils early because of the inside work of Elly Daleske (8 points) and the outside shooting of Abby Pirron (7 points).
"We had a whole lot of turnovers," said Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett, who had a hard time explaining what happened to his team in the second half. "They really took it to us. The freshman, Hughes, is a nice player. She's aggressive."
Warren the broke game the open with a flurry in the third quarter. Both Sammi Jo Nixon and Rebekah Foley, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open up a 28-9 lead. Lake Zurich's loan contributor on offense was Rachel Kuehr, who scored all of her team's 3 points in the quarter.
In the meantime, Warren senior Paige Prokof was getting to the basket, as she scored all 7 of her points in the second half Warren was in control heading into the final quarter up 35-22.
Hughes pretty much put the game to bed with back-to-back scores in the fourth quarter. A season ago, she was playing junior high ball.
"It's so much faster on the varsity," Hughes said. "It's much more intense. The defense is better and there are plenty of good shooters."
Lake Zurich's lone threat in the fourth quarter was 5-foot-2 junior Vanessa DiVincenzo. She scored 4 of her 5 points in the quarter and was her team's only contributor in the quarter.
"We've worked hard in practice," Stanczykiewicz said. "Tonight we shot the ball well. Lake Zurich didn't shoot well, but they're always well prepared by coach Bennett."