Senior Nora Ezike and her Lyons Township High School girls basketball teammates took a big first step toward winning the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Dec. 11.
Besides earning a 40-23 victory over defending champion Downers Grove North on the road, the undefeated Lions (11-0, 3-0 in Silver) also gained a No. 1 area ranking from the Chicago Sun-Times after beating Proviso West 74-19 Friday and Evanston 60-40 Saturday.
“It’s very exciting and we’ve very proud to see our hard work paying off. But rankings don’t meet anything,” Ezike said. “Rankings don’t mean wins. We have to continue to lock in and continue to do what doing and keep pushing harder and harder to be better.”
The Lions should get several tests in their return to the Montini Christmas Tournament Dec. 23 and 26-28 before resuming their quest for the Silver after their title streak was snapped last year by the Trojans (7-2, 1-1).
The Lions finished 8-4 in the Silver, three games behind Downers North. They lost both games to the Trojans by a combined nine points and scored 35 and 40 points.
“To capitalize and make a statement there, that’s fun. The girls did play really well on defense,” said LTHS coach Meghan Hutchens.
“We’ve talked about this being a special team for a long time. The thing to focus on is don’t lower expectations with how well we’re doing. I think the girls are excited about the opportunity to be No. 1 but they don’t take that lightly. We know there’s a target on our back.”
Junior Gwen Smith continues to excel, scoring a then personal-best 20 points against Downers North followed by 22 against Evanston on 10-for-16 shooting with one three.
Smith made 9 of 13 shots against Downers North, including several points in the paint. Stanford-bound Ezike (11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), Division I recruit Emma O’Brien (5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) and Tess Bernson (4 rebounds) also excelled.
“Downers plays really good defense. When we had to work to get into the paint, Gwen was able to capitalize. (And) she finds a way to sneak by everybody in transition,” Hutchens said.
“I think the more she hustles in transition to get easy baskets, that’s a feel-good moment for her. Teams have got to worry about Nora and Emma and now they’re got to worry about a third kid. She’s a rebounder, a hustler, a versatile player.”
The Lions also made 9 of 9 free throws, had nine steals and 14 defensive rebounds in their 1-3-1 zone defense and only committed 15 turnovers.
“I feel like we all play very hard on defense,” Ezike said.
“It’s usually a long possession while we’re on defense against Downers North and we didn’t break down. We stuck to our principles, had a lot of steals and communicated well with each other.”
O’Brien also scored 20 points Saturday with eight rebounds and seven assists and Ezike had 11 points. Ezike, Taylor Carroll and Sydney Munson had four rebounds and Avery Mezan and Bernson had four steals.
At Montini, LTHS opens with St. Laurence (2-9) Dec. 23 followed by Prospect (8-2) or Geneva (2-6) Dec. 26. A possible semifinal opponent Dec. 27 is Benet (9-1), which the Lions beat 77-67 Nov. 19. Tournament updates are available at montinichristmastourney.com.
RBHS girls basketball
Alyssa Morris and Gabriella Graupera each had 16 points as the Bulldogs defeated Ridgewood 58-22 in Upstate Eight Conference Red Division play Dec. 10.
Morris also had two three-pointers, nine rebounds and three assists. Other standouts for the Bulldogs (3-8, 2-2 in UEC Red) were Maya Tennicott and Addie Vaia (6 points each), Abby Weinert (4 points, 3 steals) and Claire Evans (5 steals).
“In the beginning of the season I think we struggled with running our plays and finishing our possessions on offense,” Weinert said. “I definitely see a change in how we run our offense, and I see how we have gained patience and basketball knowledge to finish our possessions.”
On Saturday, the Bulldogs defeated Lindblom 56-39 and lost to Oak Lawn 75-59 in White Division pool play at the Oak Lawn Tournament.
Graupera (19 points) and Vaia (10 points) led the scoring against Lindblom. The Bulldogs had four in double figures against Oak Lawn – Graupera and Isabella Perez (13 each), Evans (11) and Morris (10).
This was the third straight game in double figures for Graupera, a 5-foot-8 exchange student from Spain.
RBHS finishes Oak Lawn pool play Wednesday against Lockport and will play the corresponding Green Division pool finisher Saturday.
The Bulldogs lost to Nazareth 65-34 Dec. 11 and to Glenbard South 47-17 Friday.
Morris (16 points with 2 threes, 7 rebounds), Graupera (5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Weinert (6 rebounds) and Evans (5 rebounds) led RBHS against Nazareth (8-2), last year’s Class 4A state runner-up.
“Even though we did not finish with a win, [Nazareth] is a nationally ranked team and I think we did a good job walking onto the court with a strong mentality and ready to put up a good fight,” Weinert said.
“Another game that stood out was Ridgewood. The team did a good job playing the game and trusting our skill to end up with a win.”
The Bulldogs open the four-day Sandburg Holiday Classic Dec. 26 playing Romeoville and Sandburg or Plainfield East.