Schueler comes up big as Kaneland dumps Yorkville

Lexi Schueler sat in the left corner near the baseline before catching a chest pass and drove fearlessly.

The Kaneland sophomore guard, all of 5-foot-4, seemingly had no problem driving into heavy traffic and finishing with her left hand, plus making the ensuing free throw,

It put an exclamation mark on Schueler's 19 points during Kaneland's 53-40 girls basketball win over visiting Yorkville on Wednesday.

"I feel pretty comfortable [taking on contact] because I practice it a lot," Schueler said. "I practice against taller players a lot, so I feel comfortable in doing that. Because I'm smaller, I know I need to create contact instead of not drawing any and not getting a foul."

Besides scoring, Schueler feels her court vision and ballhandling where her value on the court really shines.

"I feel like my handles are good, so I'm able to create for other people and facilitate the court," Schueler continued. "I think I see the court well, so that's easy [to] pass [to] other people and get them good shots."

"Lexi has good body control, so when she gets in the lane, she's able to see where a help defender might be coming from and she beats somebody in," Kaneland coach Kelsey Flanagan said. "We've been working on pulling up a little sooner than needed, but she was getting lots of open looks on the baseline or on the wing tonight and was finishing really well from both sides of the rim. She definitely gave us a big spark."

Kaneland's team gives out a WWE-style championship belt following each game to the player that played well or executed their goals in that game. Schueler, for the second game in a row, emerged from the locker room with that belt.

"Only a sophomore, so she's got lots of room to grow," Flanagan said. "She's really coming along here at this point in the season."

McKenzie Schueler, a senior guard and Lexi's older sister, also had a solid night with 12 points and four rebounds. Kat Marshall had 15 points with six rebounds and two blocks.

Kaneland (6-5, 4-1) led by 10 points at the half and eventually pushed the lead to as many as 22 midway through the fourth quarter. Yorkville (1-11, 0-4) received a bit of a boost with two threes from Abby Pool and one three from Karson Davey down the stretch, but Kaneland's shooting had done enough to maintain a healthy margin.

Yorkville was paced by Kenzie Phillips and Alex Stewart, who each had five points and four rebounds. Pool scored a team-high 12 points on four three-pointers.

Yorkville's lone win came on Dec. 4 against Plano. Even in the midst of a four-game losing streak, the Foxes show the talent and ability to remain competitive for stretches.

But, to play more consistent winning basketball, the Foxes have to show consistent effort.

"And, if we're not scoring, we still have to be able to play defense," Foxes coach Kim Wensits said. "It felt tonight when we were going through a scoring drought, our defense just stopped completely. Energy got flat and you have to find a way to push through that, otherwise you're never going to get the win."