WW South shuts down Rolling Meadows
When Rolling Meadows closed to within a point late in the third quarter of Tuesday's Class 4A Lake Park sectional semifinal, Wheaton Warrenville South did what the Tigers do.
The Tigers held the Mustangs scoreless the final 9 minutes and 22 seconds of the game to win 34-27 and advance to Thursday's girls basketball sectional final against defending state champion Geneva.
"I didn't even know we held them to no points in the fourth quarter. Coach just told us that," Tigers senior Jayla Johnson said. "I think it's amazing. We really pride ourselves on our defense. I mean, they got a lot of easy buckets on the inside with driving, but we've just got to work on that and stop it."
"What these kids do simply amazes me," Tigers coach Rob Kroehnke added. "There was many times when you just went, uh-oh, and you think the tide was turned and everything, but they just continue to play defense and they took care of the ball and made the free throws when we had to. I mean, talk about gutting one out. That was gutting one out."
It was a season low in points for the high-scoring Mustangs (21-9), seeded sixth, which is the kind of thing the second-seeded Tigers (27-3) have done to teams all season. It was the 15th time the Tigers held an opponent under 30 points.
"I think it has something to do with us, but from what I've seen of Wheaton Warrenville South it has a lot more to do with them," Rolling Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky said. "I watched a lot of film on them and they've done that to a lot of good teams. I've got to credit them. They run their zone and their kids work incredibly well together and there's just not a lot of open looks."
Johnson led all scorers with 16 points, adding 7 rebounds despite admitting to being "very gassed. I don't know if it was my legs, I don't know what it was, but I was very gassed tonight."
It had a lot to do with the Mustangs' pressure defense and fast-paced offense, which produced much of its scoring in transition. Sophomore Bridget Rolla led the Mustangs with 10 points.
The Tigers opened their biggest lead of the game when Johnson's three-point play with 4:52 left in the third period made the score 28-19. The Mustangs ran off the next 8 points, a run that ended with senior Melissa Spiwak's basket with 1:22 to go in the third. Though they seemed to have the momentum, the Mustangs didn't score again.
"With our press when we're hitting shots we have an opportunity to come up with pressure and we can score in a hurry when that's happening," Kirkorsky said. "I'm proud of my kids. They did everything I could have asked."