LF_122718

LakeForestLeader.com SPORTS
the lake forest leader | December 27, 2018 | 29
Girls Basketball
Defense, post play allow Scouts to take off
David Jaffe
freelance reporter
Scoring only one field
goal in a quarter does not
usually fall in line with a
basketball team’s strategy.
But in its Blue Devil
Holiday Classic opener
against host Warren Saturday,
Dec. 22, Lake Forest
High School was just fine
with it.
Lake Forest’s ability to
get the ball inside, near the
basket, forced the Warren
defense to commit an array
of fouls, putting the Scouts
at the free-throw line.
Lake Forest knocked
down 15 of 22 foul shots.
And beginning late in the
first half, the Scouts started
converting their inside opportunities,
finishing with
26 points in the paint.
As a result, the Scouts
(11-4, 5-2) broke open
what had been a close first
half and dominated Warren,
61-33.
With Lake Forest leading
22-20 late in the second
quarter, Halle Douglass
went backdoor to convert
layups for and-one opportunities
on back-to-back
possessions, scoring five
straight points.
That appeared to be when
Lake Forest took control of
the game for good.
“We needed a shift in
momentum,” said Douglass,
who filled the stat
sheet with 18 points, 7 rebounds,
7 assists, 2 steals
and 2 blocks. “Our first
backdoor attempt wasn’t
there but my teammates
kept cutting hard and Grace
[Tirzmalis] had a great pass
to me giving us another
backdoor opportunity. After
that our defense helped
set up a similar play that I
was able to score on. Our
defense getting a stop led
to that and we were able to
execute both plays.”
While the post game was
key for the Scouts’ defense,
opportunism led the defense.
“Our defense did a much
better job getting in passing
lanes and that was the catalyst
for how we closed the
half,” Lake Forest coach
Kyle Wilhelm said. “[Warren]
had been shooting the
ball well, but our defense
began to make them uncomfortable.
We then got
those big plays to extend
the lead and the important
thing is we were able to
carry that over in the third
quarter.
“Sometimes we’ll close
out the half well but keep
teams around. We made
sure that didn’t happen this
time.”
Douglass’s buckets were
part of a 21-0 run that
turned a 20-16 deficit into
a 37-16 lead. Tirzmalis had
seven of her 17 points during
that stretch, and Finola
Summerville had 4.
The Scouts extended the
lead to 53-28 at the end of
the third.
While Warren shot fairly
well from long distance,
going 7-of-19 from beyond
the arc, six of those threes
were in the first half. And
Lake Forest shut Warren
down otherwise, forcing 25
turnovers.
“Molly [Fisher] did a
great job getting pressure
on the ball,” Douglass said.
“She kind of led the way.
But the entire team was effective
pressuring the ball.
We took away their outside
looks and made them speed
up and play faster than they
wanted. When we forced
turnovers, we were able to
run our offense through doing
that.”
Warren got out to an
early 9-2 advantage when
Macy Kocen, Trenise Powe
and Jataia Harris all buried
threes. But the Scouts
scored the final eight points
of the quarter, six from the
free-throw line, getting
four apiece from Tirzmalis
and Douglass.
Lake Forest went ahead
16-12, but Warren responded
with an 8-0 run thanks to
treys from Kocen and Caroline
Sharpe and a putback
by Breleigh Gula.
But it was clear that despite
only one first-quarter
field goal, the strategy for
the Scouts was an effective
one: get the ball inside,
which would result in a
bucket or a trip to the charity
stripe.
“Getting to the line kept
us in the game early,” Wilhelm
said. “The girls were
cutting hard and making
good passes. We were able
to take advantage of our
ability to get to the basket.
Most of the first half that
resulted in free throw opportunities
but as the half
ended, we did a better job
of converting.”
The Blue Devil Classic
continues the Scouts’
string of road contests, as
they had yet to play a home
game as of Saturday, Dec.
22. But after the tournament,
they will only play at
home the rest of the regular
season, as well as host the
regional.
Lilly Trkla added 8
points, while Summerville
had 6. Ellie Pearson
chipped in 5 points and 6
rebounds, while Fisher had
4 points and 2 steals.
Lake Forest continues
tournament play Wednesday-Saturday,
Dec. 26-29.
Check LakeForestLeader.
com for updates.
Lake Forest junior Molly Fisher (1) pressures the Warren ballhandler in the Scouts’
61-33 win Saturday, Dec. 22, in the Blue Devil Holiday Classic. Photos by Harrison
Raft/22nd Century Media
Grace Tirzmalis (23) goes up for the layup en route to 17 points for Lake Forest.