Lyons Township High School girls basketball players came prepared, hustled and supported each other as usual during invitational action Saturday and Monday.
Most of the names, however, were different.
Four junior varsity regulars and two freshman players got their first taste of consistent varsity action. All but two from the Lions’ 15-player varsity active roster were benched for both games by coach Meghan Hutchens for undisclosed reasons.
“It’s been tough. It’s definitely a change with the play and level of play,” sophomore guard Anna Bigenwald said.
“I think that the leaders on our team, (sophomores Emma O’Brien and Gwen Smith) have really helped me and all of the other players transition well. It’s been tough but they help. The team helps.”
The Lions (13-9) lost to Sandburg 63-44 Saturday at the Kipp Shootout at Montini and Yorkville 62-43 Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shootout at Batavia.
O’Brien, usually a starter, and key reserve Smith were the lone varsity regulars who played. Sophomore Fiona Sullivan, Bigenwald and freshman Taylor Carroll from the JV also started. Also playing were sophomore Char Ebeid from JV and Gracie Greifenkamp and Sinclair Zieba from the freshman team.
“They got their first varsity experience and they did really well (against Sandburg). They competed,” Hutchens said Monday.
“What those eight individuals do is they’re fearless. They don’t care how old you are, what level you are and that’s what is going to make them really great for us on the varsity level one day.”
The benched players were at both games in warmups. The week began with a disappointing 37-32 home loss to Glenbard West Jan. 9 that puts the Lions (7-2 in West Suburban Silver) one game behind leader Downers Grove North (19-3, 7-1).
Hutchens said all varsity players would be available for Tuesday’s home game against the Trojans.
“We’re going to put this all behind us,” Hutchens said. “We will get through this adversity together and we will build from it, I promise you that. The reality is they missed two games and it’s hard to sit there and watch. We’ve had some practices to put things together and they’re responding well.”
The non-varsity players learned about joining the varsity after practice Wednesday.
Sullivan had the benefit of starting the season on varsity before moving to JV. Carroll was a varsity starter for the girls volleyball team in the fall.
“Going back up (with varsity), I knew the plays. I knew how they ran things, the pace,” Sullivan said. “(Hutchens) wasn’t really worried about making mistakes, just get out there and work hard, try our best.”
Because of Friday’s snow day, they had only one practice day to prepare for Sandburg.
The Eagles zipped to a 9-0 lead, but the Lions closed to 14-12, scoring on five straight possessions. The Eagles used a 13-0 run in the second quarter to lead 38-23 by halftime.
Smith (15 points), O’Brien (10 points with 2 threes) and Carroll (8 points), Ebeid (7 points) and Bigenwald (4 points) accounted for the Lions’ scoring.
“They had a rough start because they had to settle in,” Hutchens said. “It took us a little bit of time to come together and collectively break that press but once we got through that, I think we were able to compete.”
O’Brien had 12 points Monday with two threes, five rebounds and three blocks, followed by Smith (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Ebeid (9 points with 2 threes). Sullivan and Zieba each made threes for their first baskets of the weekend.
“There’s little wins between the two games,” Hutchens said.
Nora Ezike (11 points), Avery Mezan (10 points) and O’Brien (7 points) had most of the scoring against Glenbard West (19-3, 6-2).
LTHS boys basketball
Senior Liam Taylor and the Lions were excited to get back on the court Monday after Saturday’s action at the Burlington Central Rocket MLK Classic was canceled.
Taylor didn’t play for long. He suffered a large cut in the back of his head during the second quarter against Neuqua Valley in Monday’s first of two games.
As Taylor grabbed a defensive rebound, he fell backwards against the floor as play briefly continued on the other end. There were no signs of concussion yet Taylor intended to receive additional medical attention.
“It’s kind of disappointing. I wish I could have at least got a foul call with landing on my head,” Taylor said, joking. “I mostly landed on my elbow. It could have been a lot worse, I think. I feel completely fine.”
Taylor wanted to help the Lions (5-11, 2-3 in West Suburban Conference Silver) replicate their strong play from Jan. 9 in beating Glenbard West 49-35 in Glen Ellyn. They lost to Neuqua 66-53 and later to DeKalb 61-50.
Brady Chambers (15 points, 17 rebounds), Taylor (14 points, 4 rebounds), Caleb Greer (6 points, 5 assists) and Michael Reilly and Max Hoffmann (5 points each) led the victory over Glenbard West (9-10, 2-2).
Taylor had eight points in the first half and Chambers 12 points in the fourth quarter, including his second three.
LTHS had lost to the Hilltoppers 54-34 at home Dec. 9. Taylor noted for that game the Lions had just installed a new offense against a 1-3-1 zone defense the previous day.
“(This time) we had a lot more opportunities to run it and perfect it to the way we were able to,” Taylor said. “And I think we played with a lot more energy than they did. I definitely think we wanted it more. We really needed another win.”
The Lions led 10-3 after one quarter and 23-12 at halftime. It was basically the opposite of the first meeting, in which the Hilltoppers used four of their nine threes for a 16-5 lead after the first quarter. Chambers and Greer, injured for both games Monday, also did not play the first time.
“We played about as well as we have pretty much all year (defensively),” LTHS coach Tom Sloan said. “I think we held them to a relatively low shooting percentage and we outrebounded them. I felt like we contested most of their shots. If we contest shots and rebound, that’s about all we can do.”
Against Neuqua, the Lions only trailed 18-13 after one quarter but then the Wildcats unleashed six of their 12 threes in the second quarter to lead 42-25 at the half.
Pacing the Lions were Jimmy Pajauskas (13 points), Polonowski (9 points), Chambers (8 points) and Reilly and Bobby Vespa (4 points each). The Lions got as close at 46-37 in the third quarter after back-to-back threes by Ian Polonowski and Tyler Kuta.
“We need to stick with teams and unfortunately we didn’t do that from the get go,” Sloan said.
“I think (first half) it was a combination of them shooting it well and us maybe not playing the best defense we could play. I give them a lot of credit for making shots.
(And) we needed to improve our defensive transition. But the second half the kids did a nice job of battling back, competing, and kept us in the game.”
Hoffmann (14 points) had a big game offensively against DeKalb, followed by Chambers (11 points) and Pajauskas and Polonowski (8 points each).
LTHS boys bowling
The Lions comfortably advanced to the Sandburg Sectional by winning the Hinsdale South Sectional Saturday.
LTHS (6,033 pins), who won by 245 pins over second-place Reavis, need a top-six sectional finish to advance to their third straight state meet as a team.
Junior Danny Haley (1,285 for 6 games, 242 high game) was third and senior Cesar Izguerra (1,229, 256 high game) sixth. Senior Jacob Healy (1,188, 243 high game) and freshman Anthony Bonilla (1,183, 224 high game) were 10th and 11th and senior Kalin Burns (1,148, 209 high game) was 17th.
Nazareth Academy sophomore Chris Martinez (1,154) was the fourth of 10 individual sectional qualifiers not among the four advancing teams. The Roadrunners were eighth (4,908).
LTHS girls wrestling
Sofia Turek (135 pounds) and Avi Gonzalez (110 pounds) both went 20-0 as champions at the Naperville Central Invite Jan. 5.
Turek posted pins in 1:52 and 3:03. In her title match, Gonzalez won with a first-period pin.
Mari Sorice (130B) was second with a 1-1 round-robin record.
Zoe Connelly (125) was third, Ashley Uhler (140) and Maddy Pieroni (170) fourth, Lorelai Brown (115) sixth and Avery Workman (145) seventh.
LTHS girls gymnastics
The Lions were edged by defending West Suburban Conference Silver champion Glenbard West 135.05 to 134.60 in their Jan. 10 dual.
Freshman Brynn Krantz won all-around (34.50) and was second on floor exercise (8.8) and balance beam (8.5) and third on vault (9.25).
Dahlia Highland was second on vault (9.3). Taking fourth were Emily Tucker on uneven parallel bars (8.25) and floor (8.45), Ava Hepokoski on beam (8.05), Elle Rockrohr on vault (8.75) and Highland in all-around (32.55).