Lisle clinches league title outright
Lisle won the first Illinois Central Eight Conference girls basketball championship outright Wednesday night with a 43-40 overtime victory against visiting Wilmington.
The Lions (24-7, 13-1), who don't have a senior on their roster, also set a program record for wins in a season. The league title is the Lions' first since the 2014-15 season when they won the Interstate Eight.
"It feels great," Lions junior guard Cassidy Allen said. "We've been wanting this for the whole season."
It wasn't the Lions' best night. They went 0 for 21 from 3-point range and dealt with foul trouble, struggling to find a way to stop Wilmington 6-foot-1 senior Chloe Sanford in the low post. Sanford scored 22 points on 16-of-24 free-throw shooting.
"I was coming off of an illness and a bunch of people are coming off injuries, and I feel like it just kind of slowed us down a bit," Allen said. "But we played with grit and we just kind of got through it."
"Last night, I mean that was one of the best games we have played all season," added Lisle coach Nick Balaban, whose team defeated Newark on Tuesday. "And then we come back tonight and nothing seemed to be working."
Trailing 39-35 with 2:05 to play in the fourth quarter, Allen made a pair of free throws and Jenna Johnston tied the game at 39 off an Emma Rossin assist with 18.1 seconds to play.
Allen opened the extra period with a basket, and Abby Casmer and Allen each added a free throw in the final 35 seconds.
Rossin led the Lions with 11 points. Sophomore Kylie Russell and Casmer added 8 apiece.
The Lions open the Class 2A playoffs on Tuesday, hosting a regional.