Wheaton Academy adjusts to Fenton

Lizzy Swoboda has played the Grinnell system of basketball and Thursday she played against the frenetic, high-scoring style. So which does she like better?

"Mmm, I don't know," Swoboda said with a laugh. "It's no fun to play against it, that's for sure. It's quick. We want to keep up with them, but we also have to slow down to keep our offense going. It's a hard balance between the two."

Wheaton Academy figured out that balance in West Chicago, defeating visiting Fenton 65-48 in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division game.

"We knew it would be a game of chaos," Wheaton Academy coach Erin Carwell said. "We played this style of offense last year, so we knew what we were going into. We knew what we had to defend. We knew we had to defend 3s. Had a hand in their face the whole game.

"So second half it just seemed to click for us of being on our shots, being patient on defense, controlling the ball. I'm really proud of our girls tonight."

The Warriors (4-5, 2-3) nearly had four players score in double digits. Sophomore Imani Hillmer led the way with 15 points, Swoboda added 12, Cassie Bonga 11 and Analise Richcreek scored 9.

"We finally had a good game of shooting," Carwell said. "Our shots were falling. We were penetrating. That's what we were looking for. To be able to put 65 points on the board, that was a shock to me. We've been looking for that from our girls."

The Warriors built a 9-point lead in the first quarter, but the Bison (2-5, 1-2) rallied, cutting the margin to 2 points in part because they forced 23 Wheaton Academy turnovers in the first half with their swarming defense.

Wheaton Academy pulled away in the second half, with the lead finally reaching double digits early in the third quarter on a Richcreek 3-pointer. The lead hit 22 points late in the game as the Warriors limited their second-half turnovers to 13.

"That makes me feel much better," Carwell said with a sigh of relief. "I was like, if we have 46 turnovers at the end of the game I'm not going to be happy. They took care of the ball in the second half."

"It's fast-paced," added Swoboda, who also grabbed 12 rebounds and 5 steals. "We knew it was going to be quick. It was hard to play against it. You have to really keep going. It's kind of ugly at points.

"They are forcing turnovers and we had to try to do our best not to give them that, which didn't always work out. We knew it was going to happen, but still, it hits you. And they hit those 3s in transition, which was a killer for us."

Senior Amari Benbow led the Bison with 16 points. She also had 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

"She's been looking to score more," Fenton coach Dave Mello, noting Benbow has scored 14 and 18 points in recent games.

Mello noted that the Grinnell system is based on a mathematic formula that requires a lot of shots. The Bison took 66 shots at Wheaton Academy.

"Our goal is 80 shots a game," Mello said. "We're 2-0 when we get to 80. We're now 0-5 when we're below 80. ... I told them, we've played six games prior to today. I think it proves that the formula is right, and when we don't get to 80, it's tough."