Hot-shooting Conant downs South Elgin
Conant's 56.7 percent shooting night (17-for-30) from the field was impressive as the Class 4A Geneva sectional's top seed won the Addison Trail girls basketball regional title on Thursday night, the Cougars' first since 2008.
Maybe more impressive was the defensive effort from the Cougars (23-5) that held No. 8 South Elgin to an 8-for-39 (20.5 percent) night from the field in a 50-32 victory. Conant will play the winner of Friday's St. Charles North regional title game between No. 4 St. Charles East (20-7) and the fifth-seeded host (19-8) in the Monday semifinal at Geneva.
"I couldn't have asked for anything more from these girls," said Cougars' first-year coach Deirdre Naughton. "They really stuck to the game plan both offensively and defensively. Our offense we know is going to be there, but our defense really stood out tonight."
After missing most of the Cougars' semifinal win over Elk Grove after hurting her ankle in the first quarter, sophomore Jorie Wachal got Conant going in the title game scoring all 11 of her game-high points in the first half to take a 30-13 lead by the break. She added 5 rebounds in the effort.
Still, the Storm (19-9) was in the game early cutting a 9-0 deficit at the start down to 10-9 after senior Cara Fahey's steal and layup with 32.2 seconds left in the first quarter. South Elgin did not hit another field goal until sophomore Kennedy Wells had a pair of breakaway layups in the final 20.5 seconds of the third quarter.
By the end of the third quarter, Conant led 46-18 thanks to its depth, which also saw senior Alissa Wachal match her sister's game-high 11 points off the bench. Seniors Haley Anderson (10 points) and Katherine Lomas (8 points, 5 rebounds) added to the effort, and junior Nireet Dhillon grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds.
"We knew this was a big game for all of us," Jorie Wachal said. "We came out ready, and we played as a team. We all know we can go far if we play as a team."
Wells and senior Laura McIntosh, who had a game-high 10 rebounds, led the Storm offense with 9 points each. They combined for 11 of the team's 14 fourth-quarter points as South Elgin kept battling till the end.
South Elgin first-year coach Dan Mandernack lauded his four seniors for their leadership, which helped the Storm win 8 of their last 9 games heading into the title game after two of their starters went down with season-ending injuries.
"The seniors, I'm just really proud of them," Mandernack said. "Give Conant the credit, but I'm proud of how my team kept fighting in the fourth quarter. We all felt the heartbreak tonight, but now it's up to the juniors and sophomores to step up."