Warren well enough to turn away Carmel Catholic
That darn flu bug - it even hit Warren's Division I-bound player, Kaylen Dickson (Wake Forest).
"I wouldn't say she was at her best tonight," said Warren girls basketball coach John Stanczykiewicz.
Not at her best on Thursday night? Dickson still went home with a double-double.
Maybe the 12 points didn't stand out, but how 'bout those 16 rebounds?
Warren (11-4) held an 8-point lead in the second quarter. Caitlin Teehan and Katie Lach fired back consecutive three-pointers for Carmel. It was a 1-point game at halftime, 18-17 for Warren.
Warren got some help from the bench to pull out this 35-29 win over the Corsairs. Breleigh Gula grabbed a pair of key offensive rebounds down the stretch. She also added 5 points as Warren held serve at the annual Blue Devil Classic.
Gula had one foul shot entering the second half. She scored inside to open the Warren scoring. Her rebound and bucket gave Warren some breathing room at 33-26. This junior stands close to 5 feet, 11 inches.
"I just take my rebounds and I'm more of a defensive player,'' Gula said. "I like to box out girls."
Jordyn Hughes nailed a 3-pointer with three minutes to play in the opening half. At the time, Hughes trailed Carmel 10-9.
"We usually shoot better than this,'' said Carmel coach Ben Berg. "But both teams played good defense tonight. Plus, this was our third game in two days."
No one came close to Dickson in rebounding totals, but two Corsairs combined to do just that as Lach and Teehan both grabbed 8 boards.
Dickson had the fast start on offense. After one quarter, it was Dickson 6 and Carmel 6.
"Carmel is a good team,'' Stanczykiewicz said. "They challenged everything tonight. It wasn't our best night but I was impressed with the way Carmel played."
On a rebound bucket from Lach (8 points, 8 boards), the Warren lead was 20-19 early in the second half. On an inside hoop from Dana Lundtveidt, the Warren lead was 26-20. Lundtveidt took a blow to the face and had to leave, bringing back Gula.
"Breleigh played great for us tonight,'' Stanczykiewicz said. "She just needs to post up and stay inside."
Carmel (9-7) did not fade away. On a 3-pointer from Rayna Jamieson, the Carmel deficit was a single bucket at 28-26 with five minutes to play.
"We missed too many free throws,'' Berg said. "But we are young and I appreciated our effort."
Carmel made just 1 of 6 free throws early in the final quarter. Warren, trying to ice the game at the foul line late, missed five straight throws.
Brigit Barr added 8 points and 4 rebounds for the Corsairs. Hughes backed Dickson with 10 points.
Gula, a junior, has high hopes for her Blue Devils team this winter.
"Jordyn and Kaylen are the leaders,'' Gula said. "I think we have a good chance of winning our conference."