Short-handed Lisle looking long term
Lisle is just starting what probably will be a tough stretch, but the Lions hope to be better for it by the end of the girls basketball season.
The Lions suffered their third consecutive loss Monday night since losing starters Natalie Takahashi and McKenzie Weaver to injuries on Thursday. This time visiting Sandwich did the damage, dropping the outmanned Lions 37-17.
Looking long term is a message Lisle coach Nick Balaban emphasized to his team.
"I said, you know, ladies, this isn't about wins and losses," Balaban said. "This is about how better we get individually, which eventually makes us better as a team. And now you've got players who are doing things that they're not accustomed to doing on a regular basis."
The Lions (6-5, 2-3 Interstate Eight Conference) hope Takahashi, a four-year starter at point guard, can return from a sprained ankle in a couple of weeks. Weaver, a junior guard who suffered a concussion in a nasty fall, won't be back before January.
"We're going to be playing with this group for an extended period of time and I told them, I said we've just got to get better and when those two return it's going to make us that much better. And we've just got to prepare for conference tournament and the state tournament," Balaban said.
While Lisle struggled to make shots from the field, the Lions did good work at the free-throw line. Gabrielle Wagoner made 7 of 11 there to lead the team in scoring with 7 points. The Lions made 13 of 21 at the line as a team.
Wagoner is an example of how growth from playing time now can benefit the Lions in February.
"Gaby Wagoner is a sophomore, and she's gotten thrown into the fire here," Balaban said. "She's our third guard and now she's our No. 1 guard.
"The improvement that she has made from two years ago when she first came here. ... Her shot needed a lot of work. She wasn't a good free-throw shooter. And now she's confident at the free-throw line. Her shot has gotten a lot better; it used to be a line drive and now she's getting arc on it. It looks really good. She is someone who has really committed and dedicated herself to becoming a better player, and it's really showing."
Sandwich scored the first 6 points of the first quarter, but the Lions tied the game on a basket by Caitlyn Webber, then took their first lead on a pair of Audrey Strunewitz free throws.
After two ties and four lead changes, a 10-0 Sandwich run in the second quarter put the Indians ahead for good.
Webber, a 5-foot-8 junior, added 10 rebounds for Lisle.
"That's another player that has improved a great deal," Balaban added. "We need her to score a little bit more, but that's great to see that she was rebounding well for us. Everybody on this team, there's something really good they can do for us."