Kuzmanic, Wheeling stop Warren
As Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz stood in Grayslake Central's near-empty gym, he heard laughter from his girls basketball players coming from the hallway as they exited the building.
Never mind that Wheeling's experienced squad had just beaten Warren's young Blue Devils 53-39 in a Class 4A regional semifinal.
"Listen to them," said Stanczykiewicz, grinning. "That's the beauty of this team. They're just so much fun and they're together."
Something else Stanczykiewicz appreciated Tuesday night? The final game of Deanna Kuzmanic's career, at least against his team.
"You know what the great thing about Deanna Kuzmanic is?" Stanczykiewicz said after the senior guard rang up a game-high 20 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. "There's no drama there. There's no attitude. There's no 'Hey, look at me.' There's no grandstanding. She takes her knocks - she takes her physical play. You don't see her crying.
"To me," Stanczykiewicz added, "that's the beauty of Deanna Kuzmanic. I hope that's what kids watch, too. It's not just the skill set. It's the attitude. If you're going to lose, you don't mind losing to people like that."
Kuzmanic and her teammates get another chance to win Thursday night, when sixth-seeded Wheeling (21-7) plays No. 3 Hersey (22-6) at 7 p.m. for the regional title. Hersey defeated Wheeling twice during Mid-Suburban League East Division play this season.
"We're ready and hungry to beat them this time," Wheeling senior Hailey Dammeier said after posting 17 points and 3 steals. "We're excited. We're happy to play them again."
Warren welcomed another chance to play Wheeling. When the two teams met in the championship game of Warren's Blue Devil Classic two days after Christmas, Wheeling won easily, 69-38. Warren, however, entered Tuesday's game having won seven of its last eight.
"We really found who we are as a team," said sophomore Rebekah Foley, who led the Blue Devils with 14 points. "I think we played really good defense (the last month), and I think we have a lot of talent."
Wheeling respected how we well its opponent had been playing.
"We knew both teams had evolved a lot throughout the season," Dammeier said. "We came ready to run the floor, get them down early and just play good basketball."
Warren was ready to play too. The Blue Devils trailed only 13-10 after one quarter and got within a point in the first minute of the second when freshman Jordyn Hughes scored in the lane. But Dammeier's 3-pointer started a 9-0 run, and the Wildcats went into halftime up 26-17.
Warren keep fighting, pulling within six points on two occasions in the third quarter, the last time on Foley's free throw that made it 35-29 with 2:30 left.
"Credit Warren," Wheeling coach Matt Weber said. "They came out with a lot of energy, and they played hard. They played us extremely hard defensively, they crashed the boards well, they attacked the basket offensively, and they got us shaken up a little bit at the beginning of the game."
Wheeling closed the third with a 7-1 run, as Kuzmanic dished a pair of assists and then sank 2 free throws with 1.8 seconds on the clock to send the Wildcats into the fourth up 42-30.
Warren never got closer after that. Wheeling used a matchup 2-3 zone and matchup 1-3-1 zone to help limit Hughes, the Blue Devils' leading scorer, to 6 points.
"She's a great scorer," Weber said. "We had to focus on her. We knew we had to stop her to be successful defensively."
Center Lani Greenberg contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds for Wheeling.
Warren got 8 and 7 rebounds from 5-10 junior Jocelyn Bell and 5-11 freshman Kaylen Dickson, respectively. Foley, senior Sammi Jo Nixon and junior Kylie Nedelka each sank a 3-pointer. After starting the season 1-8, the Blue Devils went 12-8.
"I thought it was a great, spirited effort by our team," Stanczykiewicz said. "It was indicative of the way we played all year, especially the second half of the year."