LT Sports Roundup: Basketball Teams Continue Winning Ways

The Lyons Township girls basketball team is working on even better finishes.

The Lions took another step towards that Tuesday by extending their halftime lead in a 47-23 victory over Nazareth in La Grange.

Ashanti Davis led the Lions (11-5) with 16 points. Kayla Morrissey and Sara Beck had seven and six rebounds, respectively, and Colleen Connors (8 points), Clare Polega (7 points) and Davis each had four rebounds.

“The girls hare having a phenomenal season,” LT coach Katie Meyers said. “They are really fighting to improve every single game. It’s refreshing as a coach. We’re looking forward to even better things the next few weeks.”

Such was the case against the Roadrunners. LT was in control in the first half but felt it could do better. At halftime, the players discussed that among themselves without the coaches.

“That was definitely leadership showed by the girls, which is really promising for the rest of the season. It really carried that over to the second half,” Meyers said. “The coaches are doing everything they can do, but if the girls don’t take ownership, it’s hard to keep improving.”

While Meyers once again was pleased with her team’s ability to attack the basket Tuesday, the victory once again showed the Lions that they need to convert more consistently.

“We need to be at least 50 percent (shooting) when we’re attacking the hoop, and we’re not. And the girls know that,” Meyers said. “We’re a better team when we attack and miss instead of settling for outside shots, but there’s got to be a change with finishing layups. It’s something you can’t coach. It’s something the girls have got to take upon themselves to practice.”

The Lions certainly could have used a couple of more baskets Saturday as a late surge led by Illinois State-bound Stekara Hall lifted Oak Park-River Forest to a 63-62 comeback victory over visiting LT.

The Lions led most of the game and still were ahead 58-52 in the fourth quarter when Hall scored eight points during a 10-0 run that put the Huskies ahead for good. LT closed to 62-60 and had a chance to force overtime in the final seconds, but the Huskies’ Maeve Connelly had a steal and converted a free throw for a three-point lead. Connors added two free throws with less than a second remaining.

Davis (17 points, 9 rebounds), Connors (14 points with 3 three-pointers), Kayla Morrissey (12 points with 6-for-6 free-throw shooting, 6 rebounds) all finished in double figures. Beck (9 points, 6 rebounds) and Victoria Swift (8 points) also helped offensively.

Hall finished with 33 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter, despite strong defense by Connors.

The victory hurt the Lions in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division race, falling to 4-2 after beating the Huskies 57-48 Dec. 6 in La Grange.

“Hall played absolutely out of her mind. I only remember one miss she had (shooting Saturday),” Meyers said.

“It was a great basketball game with an unfortunate outcome is how I like to put it. Oak Park is a deadly team. They have a significant number of losses, but they can play with anyone if they’re on. I give a lot of credit to Oak Park because they were definitely on. It was a very emotional game.”

On Friday, the Lions rolled to a 45-27 Silver home victory over Downers Grove North behind Swift (11 points), who was with 3-for-3 three-point shooting, and Davis (10 points,  7 rebounds).

The Lions’ next game is against another Silver opponent, rival Hinsdale Central Saturday in La Grange. LT won the first meeting 58-41 Dec. 3 in Hinsdale, but the Red Devils are coming off a big victory over area-ranked St. Joseph Friday.

“I’m expecting (Hinsdale Central) to come out and be strong,” Meyers said. “With the rivalry, which I do believe is the strongest in the conference, it’s going to be a big game for both of us. We’ve got to enjoy it.”

Lyons Township 47, Nazareth 23
LT leaders: Ashanti Davis (16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), Colleen Connors (8 points, 2 steals), Clare Polega (7 points, 4 rebounds), Victoria Swift (4 points, 2 steals), Sara Beck (4 points, 6 rebounds), Kayla Morrissey (2 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals), Katie Callahan (2 rebounds)

Oak Park-River Forest 63, Lyons Township 62
LT leaders: Davis (17 points with three-pointer, 9 rebounds), Connors (14 points with 3 three-pointers, 4 steals), Morrissey (12 points with 6-for-6 free-throw shooting, 6 rebounds), Beck (9 points, 6 rebounds), Swift (8 points)

Lyons Township 45, Downers Grove North 27
LT leaders: Swift (11 points with 3-for-3 three-point shooting, 2 steals), Davis (10 points,  7 rebounds, 3 steals), Connors (6 points, 3 steals), Morrissey (6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals), Beck (5 points,  3 rebounds), Polega (4 points), Maggie Orlowski (2 rebounds)

LT boys basketball

The Lyons Township boys basketball team’s consistency continued, especially on the defensive end.

The Lions extended their winning streak to three in a row and four out of the last six games with a pair of road victories – 58-39 at Downers Grove North Friday in West Suburban Conference Silver Division action and 66-39 at Waukegan Saturday.

For the Lions (5-9, 1-2 in Silver), the victory at Downers North marked their first in conference play and first back-to-back victories of the season after winning the seventh-place game at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic Dec. 30.

The victories over the Trojans (4-10, 0-4) and Waukegan (6-8) also were the first this season in which the Lions held opponents to fewer than 40 points.

The Lions play host to Oak Park-River Forest Friday.

“We’ve figured out as a team what will be successful for us on the defensive end of the floor,” LT coach Tom Sloan said.

“Against Downers North, we were able to apply some full-court pressure, which was problematic for Downers North a little bit, and still able to fall back and defend the basket. Against Waukegan, there was not as much full-court pressure. Most of it was to get back and keep them from attacking the basket and rebounding.”

After graduating their top seven players from last year’s undefeated Silver champions, the Lions gradually are finding their identity.

Against Waukegan, LT again had a balanced attack led by Kenneth Smith (15 points), Matt Robare (11 points), Jarryd Heath (10 points), Chris O’Reilly (9 points), David Reed (8 points). The Lions not only were 26-for-47 shooting (55 percent) with seven three-pointers but also had 25 assists with O’Reilly (seven), Robare (six) and Carroll (five) combining for 18 of them.

At Downers North, leading scorers were Smith (19 points), O’Reilly (14 points) and Joe Carroll (7 points). LT was 20 of 53 from the field (38 percent) with six three-pointers but made 12 of 14 free throws with Robare scoring all six of his points on seven attempts.

The Lions scored the last 13 points of the second quarter and the first bucket of the third to turn a one-point deficit into a 35-21 advantage. The Trojans closed to 39-36 early in the first minute of the fourth quarter but scored just three points the rest of the way.

“At York, I was really pleased with three of the four games. I thought we played as well as have all year,” Sloan said. “We didn’t necessarily shoot very well (at Downers North) but we made enough shots and enough free throws and we defended well. (At Waukegan) we defended well and shot well. Hopefully we’ll continue that trend.”

The Lions also are displaying that teamwork defensively. While they have shown versatility and quickness with the ability to press, trap and run man-to-man and zones, including their well-known 1-3-1, there’s no hiding that they go into most games smaller than their opponents.

“Size is not necessarily our strength,” Sloan said. “We’re not able to necessarily defend way we did last couple of years, where size usually advantage for us. We have to approach it from other side so that’s taken a little while for us to find what’s best for us. It depends from team to team and who we’re playing how we try to adjust.

“More than anything, it’s team defense that is the key. If we looked at one-on-one matchups size-wise, we’re going to be in trouble. If defend as a team, that’s where we can make it difficult for teams.”

Lyons Township 66, Waukegan 39
LT leaders: Kenneth Smith (15 points, 6 rebounds), Matt Robare (11 pointsm 5 assists, 3 rebounds), Jarryd Heath (10 points with 2 three-pointers),  Chris O’Reilly (9 points, 7 assists), David Reed (8 points with 2 three-pointers), Joe Carroll (5 points, 5 assists), Chris Antalek (4 points, 4 rebounds)

Lyons Township 58, Downers Grove North 39
LT leaders: Smith (19 points with 2 three-pointers), O’Reilly (14 points with 2 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 5 deflections), Carroll (7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals), Robare (6 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Heath (5 points, 3 rebounds), Matt Aikens (3 points, 3 rebounds)