Wheaton Warrenville South follows game plan to surprise H-F

Rob Kroehnke had his Wheaton Warrenville South girls basketball team so well prepared for Monday's game against Homewood-Flossmoor he didn't have to be there to lead his team to a win.

"He'd already set up the game plan," Tigers assistant coach Shelley Thompson said, pressed into duty when Kroehnke called in sick with the flu. "They knew what the game plan was, and they executed it. They did exactly what he told them to do."

It worked to the tune of a 32-29 Tigers victory at Coach Kipp's Hoopfest in Villa Park.

"We knew they were going to try to get it inside, so we packed it in and made them shoot from the outside," Thompson added. "Fortunately for us, they missed some shots and we made some shots."

The Tigers (18-3) controlled the tempo and played typical WW South defense, holding yet another opponent under 30 points. But this was no normal opponent. H-F has been one of the top teams in the state the past few years, finishing in the Elite Eight in Class 4A last winter.

"I think overall it wasn't a great game for us, honestly," Tigers junior Kylie Ruggles said. "That's a very great team. There were points where we didn't play to our best and points where we did."

The teams were even throughout the game, with no team leading by more than 7 points.

H-F took its last lead when Aireal Dickson opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to break a 24-24 tie. But the Vikings went the next six minutes without scoring. WW South senior Jayla Johnson made 5 of 6 free throws and junior McKenzie Stebbins made another as the Tigers clawed to a 30-27 lead with 1:39 to go.

Kaitlin Lee scored inside with 28.9 seconds to go, but the Vikings couldn't get off a shot on their final possession after Johnson made another couple of free throws.

"Going into that last (quarter) we knew we had to crack in on defense," Ruggles said.

Playing a quick, long team like H-F required a lot of patience from the Tigers.

"It was very hard to get in on the inside because they were really tall," Ruggles said, "so we had to be patient and move the ball around a lot. Just set good screens."

Dickson led the Vikings with 14 points and 10 rebounds.