Defensive gem helps Lake Zurich snap Warren's streak
After one quarter on Saturday night, Warren emerging girls basketball standout Kaylen Dickson was on pace to score more than 30 points in a North Suburban Lake Division battle with visiting Lake Zurich.
"She has a really good spin move,'' said Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett. "And she is fast as heck."
And then as if someone pulled out the plug, this game turned into a defensive struggle.
Lake Zurich (11-7, 4-2) had the last stand and ended Warren's seven-game winning streak with a 30-29 victory.
"It's our defense,'' said Lake Zurich senior Rachel Kuehr. "It's a lot of work. We focus on it in practice."
When Dickson (13 points, 8 rebounds) opened the third quarter with one of those spin moves, she had actually tied Lake Zurich's whole team with those 13 points.
The Bears found some offense in the third quarter, and on 2 Kuehr free throws took 24-22 lead to the final quarter.
"We don't score a lot of points,'' Bennett said. "But we've only given up 40 points twice this year."
After both teams showed off offense in the first quarter, Warren won the second-quarter scoring 5-4.
Another oddity about this defensive-minded club is that 5-foot-2 guard Vanessa Divincenzo might actually lead the team in rebounding. She added 6 more boards in this win.
"I think I use my speed for those rebounds,'' Divincenzo said.
This senior has also bought into the defense-first program.
"Our defense leads to our offense,'' she said. "It's a good team defense."
Both teams had a chance to put this game away. On a Jordyn Hughes 3, the Warren lead was 21-16 early in the third quarter.
"This was probably the best defensive team we've played,'' said Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz. "It came down to execution. And we didn't execute down the stretch."
On a rebound and bucket from Kuehr, Lake Zurich looked in control with a 28-22 lead with five minutes to play. Again, Warren (10-8, 2-4) fought back.
Hughes (7 points, 5 rebounds) drilled a shot to cut the LZ lead to 28-27. On Rebekah Foley's clutch shot, Warren had a lead in the final minute. However, McKenna Zobel (7 points, 4 rebounds) scored a basket to give the Bears the winning margin.
"Give Chris (Bennett) credit,'' Stanczykiewicz said. "They figured it out. They tweaked their defense. It was a hard-fought game and we'll learn from it."
The Bears extended their winning streak to five games.
Nicole Gaggiano (5-foot-11) joined Divincenzo with 6 rebounds. Jocelyn Bell of Warren also had 5 boards.
Abby Pirron led the Bears in scoring with 9 points.