Wheaton Academy can't overcome shooting woes

When it came to the areas of defense and rebounding, the Wheaton Academy girls basketball was superb Monday night.

But the Warriors just couldn't get a shot to go in.

Held to just one field goal in the second half and no points in the fourth quarter, Wheaton Academy lost 36-21 to Chicago Christian in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division matchup in West Chicago.

"That will lose you games 100 percent of the time," said Wheaton Academy coach Erin Carwell about her team scoring 4 points in the second half. "Our shots just didn't fall tonight. We will be back in the gym tomorrow getting a lot of shots up (at practice).

"We had one senior on the court tonight. We've got a young team that loves to play and one that we will keep developing."

The Warriors actually took a 7-0 lead out of the gate on a 3-pointer by Imani Hillmer and baskets from Britta Swoboda and Molly Vanhuizen.

They held the visitors to just 2 points in the opening quarter and were still clinging to a 17-16 advantage at halftime.

But after the score was knotted at 21 midway through the third, Chicago Christian (5-3, 2-1) scored the final 16 points of the contest. Deja Claybrooks led the Knights with 11 points and Janay Turner had 9.

Wheaton Academy (2-5, 1-2) finished 1 of 17 from the 3-point arc and 2 of 9 from the free-throw line.

"Defense is something we've been working hard on because we had been struggling with it," Chicago Christian coach Karl Frixen said. "We want to keep the ball in front of us and then as soon as the shot goes up, make sure we box somebody out. We did a better job of that in the second half.

"The first quarter was a bit of a struggle, but it was good to see them play pretty well the next three quarters."

The Warriors finished with 37 rebounds, 19 of which came on the offense end.

Analise Richcreek and Hillmer had 10 rebounds apiece and Vanhuizen contributed 7. Hillmer and Jerilyn Blackmon topped the team with 6 points each.

"They had the size on us, but defensively I'm very proud of the girls," Carwell said. "They came out and played how we practice. We've been talking that we are going to be a defensively strong team this year. The girls believe in that and they are working hard."