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30 | December 29, 2016 | The glenview lantern Sports<br />
glenviewlantern.com<br />
Missed free throws doom Titans vs. Wildkits<br />
Weinman scores<br />
24 in South’s<br />
second loss<br />
Neil Milbert<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
Down 10 points and<br />
seemingly on the brink of<br />
being counted out at the<br />
start of the fourth quarter,<br />
Glenbrook South regained<br />
its equilibrium and<br />
counterattacked to take a<br />
4-point lead with less than<br />
two minutes to play.<br />
Undefeated Evanston<br />
then came back to send the<br />
game into overtime and escape<br />
Glenview with a 59-<br />
56 victory that prevented<br />
the Titans from pulling off<br />
one of the biggest upsets<br />
of the Illinois high school<br />
basketball season.<br />
Coach Steve Weissenstein<br />
of GBS (11-2, 4-1<br />
CSL South) didn’t want his<br />
girls to hang their heads in<br />
the aftermath of the defeat.<br />
“I’m very proud of<br />
them,” Weissenstein said.<br />
“The thing I’m most proud<br />
of is we don’t give up. We<br />
battled until the whistle<br />
ended the game.”<br />
Carie Weinman was the<br />
catalyst of the comeback.<br />
After being limited to 6<br />
points in the first half —<br />
all in the opening quarter<br />
when GBS took a 10-5<br />
lead — she broke loose for<br />
18 in the second half.<br />
“They’re a great team<br />
and we knew going in it<br />
would be tough to get open<br />
shots,” the Denver recruit<br />
said. “We were down, we<br />
had to try for shots from<br />
far out and people were<br />
setting screens for me to<br />
get open.”<br />
Like the Titans, the Wildkits<br />
(12-0 and 3-0) play a<br />
relentless trapping defensive<br />
game designed to produce<br />
points off turnovers.<br />
“Evanston is a great defensive<br />
team,” Weissenstein<br />
said. “They’re taller<br />
than we are. They’re very<br />
physical and they’re very<br />
strong. We have matchup<br />
problems. For three quarters<br />
our help side defense<br />
was really good. At the<br />
end (Leighah-amori) Wool<br />
caught the ball where she<br />
wanted it.<br />
“As big as they are we<br />
needed to get to the free<br />
throw line but we didn’t<br />
have any free throws in the<br />
first half.”<br />
In the third and fourth<br />
quarters the Titans corrected<br />
that shortcoming by<br />
getting to the line 11 times,<br />
but they converted only<br />
three of their free throws<br />
and one of the misses<br />
came on the front end of a<br />
1-and-1 opportunity.<br />
Those misses were the<br />
difference between victory<br />
and defeat.<br />
On the first possession of<br />
the game, the Wildkit turned<br />
the ball over but the Titans<br />
immediately responded<br />
with a giveaway of their<br />
own. The trend was set — it<br />
was that kind of game.<br />
The intensity on defenses<br />
curtailed 3-point shooting<br />
in the first half. Only<br />
a handful of treys were<br />
attempted and only one —<br />
by Wool — went in.<br />
Evanston went on a 15-2<br />
run to gain the momentum<br />
in the second quarter that<br />
saw the Titans surrender<br />
their early lead and fall behind<br />
24-16 at the half.<br />
But early in the third<br />
quarter, Callie Pekosh and<br />
Weinman hit the trifecta to<br />
spearhead a 10-2 run by<br />
GBS that cut the deficit<br />
to 28-26. Twice the Titans<br />
had opportunities to tie the<br />
score, but a missed field<br />
goal and a pair of unsuccessful<br />
free throws enabled<br />
Evanston to reclaim<br />
the momentum.<br />
Evanston’s Allysah<br />
Boothe made the last of her<br />
three successive 3-point<br />
shots to send the visitors<br />
out front 39-29 at the start<br />
of the fourth quarter.<br />
But GBS refused to surrender,<br />
scoring 16 of the<br />
next 19 points to surge to<br />
a 3-point lead. Weinman<br />
scored 6 of South’s points<br />
during the spree and Pekosh<br />
and Lizzy Shaw each<br />
accounted for five.<br />
Highlighting the comeback<br />
was Weinman’s shot<br />
from behind the NBA<br />
3-point line that gave the<br />
Titans their first lead since<br />
the start of the second<br />
quarter.<br />
Wool’s basket from<br />
down low ended the GBS<br />
run and made it a 1-point<br />
game, but Weinman responded<br />
by sinking another<br />
3-pointer to give the<br />
Titans the 48-44 lead that<br />
they were unable to hold.<br />
Wool was fouled in the<br />
act of scoring and her free<br />
throw completed the old<br />
fashioned 3-point play that<br />
sent the game into overtime<br />
with the score deadlocked<br />
at 48.<br />
Although the Wildkits<br />
were able to pull away<br />
in overtime, Weinman’s<br />
drive-in shot, punctuated<br />
by a free throw that came<br />
because she was fouled in<br />
the act of shooting, and her<br />
3-point basket with 19.1<br />
seconds to play kept the<br />
Titans in striking distance.<br />
“We thought we’d beat<br />
them this time,” Weinman<br />
said. “Now, we want to beat<br />
them even more next time.”<br />
Next time is the last<br />
game of the regular season<br />
at Evanston on Feb. 10.<br />
Glenbrook South senior Callie Pekosh takes a shot during the Titans’ 59-56 overtime<br />
loss to the undefeated Evanston Wildkits on Thursday, Dec. 22, in Glenview. Photos<br />
by David Kraus/22nd Century Media<br />
Senior Carolyn Kuhn avoids two defenders.
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