Burlington Central defeats Wheaton Academy
Already with three freshmen on the roster, the Burlington Central girls basketball varsity lineup recently became even younger.
Leading scorer Kathryn Schmidt, Zoey Kollhoff and Lily Moretti were joined by Reili Gardner and Maddie Menke from the sophomore team.
"We've all played together since we were really little," Gardner said. "It's intense so it helps us all get better. We'll be together for the next four years and then the other freshmen will come up and we'll have a really good team in the future."
In their Class 3A Wheaton Academy regional opener Monday, they and the Rockets showed plenty of poise in holding off determined Wheaton Academy 35-32 in West Chicago.
Burlington Central (15-14), the No. 7 seed in its subsectional of the Kaneland sectional, will play No. 2 Sycamore (18-9) in Wednesday's 6 p.m. semifinal.
Schmidt scored 21 points and the Rockets never trailed after a 10-0 run in the second quarter.
Gardner was the first player off the bench and played most of the game to help defend the Warriors' 3-point shooting, specifically senior Meredith Bult, who had 2 Monday to add give her a single-season school record 60.
"It was fun because I knew that it was a big game that we had to win," Gardner said. "I knew I had to bring my 'A' game."
The No. 8 Warriors (11-16) closed to 25-24 entering the fourth quarter. They missed a putback to take the lead on their first possession and two game-tying 3s in the final 1:21.
The second attempt in the final 10 seconds was deflected by Schmidt. The Warriors tried to convert the rebound underneath as time expired.
"They caught up and we won the fourth quarter," Burlington Central coach Mark Smith said. "This time of year, you want to go to the next game, no matter what the score is. There's some things we want to fix, but the energy, the effort were there."
Schmidt, who averages 16 points, showed great determination after she missed school Friday and sat out practice Saturday recovering from illness. She had 12 second-half points and 8 of her team's 10 fourth-quarter points, other than junior guard Hannah Overmyer's steal and layup for a 30-24 lead. Overmyer and Moretti each added 4 points.
"(Schmidt) being sick worried me, but I knew she would come out and try her best," Gardner said.
"I got pretty tired in the third and fourth (quarters)," Overmyer added. "They tried fighting back and it just ended so close."
Junior Lizzy Swoboda led Wheaton Academy with 7 points. Senior Emily Renn and Bult, who each overcame first-half foul trouble, and freshman Imani Hillmer had 6 apiece with two 3s also from Hillmer.
The Warriors made tremendous progress under first-year coach Tory Gum and his completely new offense and defense. They trailed 21-12 at halftime after 4-for-32 shooting with three 3s but then scored the first 7 points of the third quarter, 6 from Swoboda.
"Just absolute defensive effort and energy. We struggled (offensively) and that was hard for us to overcome, but I was so proud of them," Gum said. "I'm so proud of the second half. They just shook it off and started attacking and doing what they do."
The difference ultimately may have been Gardner, Menke and Moretti off the bench in the first half. They combined for 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists by halftime.
"(Gardner) was tearing it up on the sophomore level," Smith said. "She plays so hard and you can see she expends so much energy. (Gardner and Menke) are our two best defensive players."