Lisle starts fast against Westmont

If the first two weeks of the girls basketball season are any indication, Lisle is well-prepared for Illinois Central Eight Conference play to start Monday night in Peotone.

The Lions used an 11-0 first-quarter run to pull away from Westmont for a 61-34 nonconference victory at Westmont on Saturday. They are 6-0 so far this season.

Emma Rossin's floater from the right side of the basket with 2:17 left in the first quarter lifted the Lisle lead into double digits, and the Lions steadily built on that margin from there. By halftime Lisle led 31-14.

"It made everybody feel really good," said Lisle junior guard Abby Casmer. "Obviously, we didn't feel like we needed to sag off a little bit. We still needed to push. But it gave us a little positive influence, I guess. It made us want to go harder and keep going."

Lisle built that lead by driving the lane early and either getting to the basket or drawing a foul.

"It's just something our team does really well is driving hard," Casmer said. "We work on it all the time."

Lisle drew two quick fouls on Westmont junior guard Megan Thompson, forcing her to the bench for most of the first quarter.

"If that doesn't happen, who knows how this game goes," Lisle coach Nick Balaban said. "Especially the way she played in that fourth quarter."

"She's our leader, she's our captain, she carries the team," Westmont coach Julie Jurasits added. "That was tough. Right now we're just waiting to see who is going to step up next. We're still trying to figure it out as a team."

Thompson still finished with a game-best 21 points and 12 rebounds for Westmont (0-5).

Even with the big lead, Lisle didn't consider the game out of reach until the final few minutes.

"I've learned when you play Westmont it's a rivalry game," Balaban said. "It's one of those games you'd better be prepared to play, and they've got probably one of the best players in the area in Thompson. There have been times where we were better than them and they beat us, and there have been times where they were better than us and we beat them. So it's the type of game that you can't overlook. And so far our players have been really good enough to know you can't take anybody for granted."

Casmer led the Lions with 16 points, and sophomore Emma Webb and junior Hannah Baur each scored 11.