Lyons Township High School girls basketball opponents are becoming used to double-doubles from junior Nora Ezike and sophomore Emma O’Brien.

On Friday, the two accomplished the feat together in a game for the first time to contribute to one of the biggest wins this season.

The Lions prevailed 59-46 at York in their West Suburban Conference Silver Division finale with O’Brien (22 points with 4 threes, 13 rebounds) and Ezike (22 points, 10 rebounds with 6 offensive) leading the way.

“It’s so good when we’re both playing really good together. We play really good off of each other. I think they were missing a lot of close shots and me and Nora were just kind of there to get the rebounds,” said O’Brien, whose first 15 points helped establish a 28-22 halftime lead.

“We knew we weren’t going to win conference but we definitely wanted to get a good win going into playoffs.”

LTHS (17-11, 8-4 in Silver) had won the last two full-season Silver titles with perfect 12-0 records but this season tied for third with York (15-12, 8-4) behind Downers Grove North (27-3, 11-1) and Glenbard West (24-6, 9-3).

The Lions split with York and Glenbard West and lost a second time to Downers Grove 48-40 Jan. 30. LTHS lost at home to the Dukes 50-46 in overtime Dec. 15 after overcoming a 20-point, second-quarter deficit.

The Lions are the No. 5 seed in the Class 4A Mother McAuley Sectional. They are home for the Lyons Township Regional at north campus and open Monday against No. 12 Jones with the winner playing No. 4 Mother McAuley or No. 13 Richards Feb. 15 for the regional title.

“We were determined to set a new tone for playoffs (Friday),” LTHS coach Meghan Hutchens said. “We made it a point to change our defense for this game (using man-to-man) and stick to our principles. I felt like we covered the three-point line really well (4 allowed). We were help-side early and that was key. We stopped the drive. And we shot well (19 for 47 with 8 threes).”

With back-to-back threes, York closed to 51-44 with 2:06 left but Ezike then made 6 for 6 free throws and scored on a putback for a 59-41 advantage. Ezike finished 11 for 14 from the line for the game. Avery Mezan had five points and five assists, Elin O’Brien had five fourth-quarter points and Kennedy Wanless had eight rebounds.

“I think this game was especially important because it’s our last conference game so to end on a good note going into playoffs is a really good thing,” Ezike said.

“That’s really exciting that we both got (double-doubles) at the same time. We all did a good job of crashing the boards and York being in zone I think it put us in position for getting the offensive rebounds.”

At Downers North, LTHS trailed 12-6 after one quarter and 35-25 after three before closing to within five in the final minute. 

Ezike scored 14 points, Emma O’Brien, Mezan and Tess Bernson each had seven and Wanless had a team-best seven rebounds.

LTHS boys basketball

When the Lions shoot well, good things often happen.

On Friday, senior Michael Reilly flourished with a personal-best 20 points and six threes – and he was not alone. The Lions enjoyed a 57-49 victory over York.

“Definitely our best shooting game of the year. It was fun,” Reilly said. “Teammates were finding me when I was open and I was just making shots. It seemed like when I was open, they were just giving me the ball every time. When I was looking for them, they were making their shots, too.”

Ian Polonowski (12 points), Caleb Greer (8 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists), Max Hoffmann (7 points), Liam Taylor (6 points, 8 rebounds) and Brady Chambers (9 rebounds, 4 assists) also were key contributors for the Lions (9-14, 4-5 in Silver). The Dukes (21-6, 8-2) fell to second in the Silver behind Downers North (22-4, 8-1).

“It was probably one of our best all-around performances,” agreed LTHS coach Tom Sloan. “Michael hitting six threes, that was really big. He’s a really important player for us and when he shoots it well, we’re much better as a team because it’s another player the opposition has to really worry about defending.”

The Lions lost a double-digit lead but came through after York tied the game 46-46 on a three with 1:22 left. Without a timeout, Greer brought the ball down court and passed to Chambers, who kicked out to Polonowski in front of the LTHS bench for a three and 49-46 lead with 52 seconds to go.

After York missed its game-tying three, Reilly, Greer, Chambers and Polonowski each made two free throws. LTHS went 12 for 12 from the line in the fourth quarter. 

The game was a far cry from the Lions’ 59-34 loss at York Dec. 15.

“The first time we played them, we almost had more turnovers than shots. We definitely did a way better job of limiting turnovers,” Reilly said. “It was probably our best conference win.”

The Lions lost to the Trojans 51-41 Jan. 30, closing to within two possessions late after trailing 28-11 at halftime. Greer (15 points, 5 assists), Chambers (12 points, 8 rebounds), Taylor (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Reilly and Polonowski (6 points each) led LTHS.

LTHS boys swimming and diving

The Lions (188 points) finished third at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Friday at York and third in the final overall standings.

Senior Matt Adler was the diving champion (397.55 points) by 19.80 points.

The 200-yard medley relay (Declan Vahey, Jack Dillon, Peter Smith and Jake Thorell in 1:42.93) and 200 freestyle relay (Lachlan Gantt, Jack Hannon, Matthew Ferguson and Thorell in 1:29.67) were third. Gantt was fourth in the 100 free (49.98).

The Lions play host to sectionals Feb. 17.