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LakeForestLeader.com SPORTS<br />
the lake forest leader | January 17, 2019 | 29<br />
Girls Basketball<br />
Rare off night snaps Scouts’ winning streak<br />
Douglass finishes<br />
with double-double<br />
before ankle injury<br />
David Jaffe<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
Winning streaks, like<br />
records, are made to be<br />
broken.<br />
Even the best teams have<br />
tough nights, and Lake Forest<br />
had one Saturday, Jan.<br />
12, thanks to a late 9-2 run,<br />
visiting Hersey snapped the<br />
Scouts’ nine-game winning<br />
streak with a 53-45 victory.<br />
Lake Forest star Halle<br />
Douglass again filled the<br />
box score, with 25 points,<br />
11 rebounds, 7 steals and 3<br />
blocks, and she had 15 of<br />
the Scouts’ 19 second-half<br />
points.<br />
But Douglass and the<br />
rest of the Scouts (16-5,<br />
5-0) struggled on the offensive<br />
end throughout the<br />
contest and couldn’t overcome<br />
Hersey’s late push in<br />
the nonconference loss.<br />
“We came out flat,”<br />
Wilhelm said. “Hersey<br />
was the one that came out<br />
with the energy. Halle was<br />
getting to the line whenever<br />
she wanted, but we<br />
couldn’t get into a rhythm<br />
otherwise or get anything<br />
else going.<br />
“When you’re struggling<br />
like that offensively,<br />
it’s going to make things<br />
much more difficult. And<br />
we didn’t solidify our defense<br />
enough to contain<br />
them. We had stretches<br />
where we played well defensively.<br />
But give them<br />
credit. They were able to<br />
adjust if we switched up<br />
our defense and got to the<br />
basket.”<br />
With Lake Forest in<br />
front 43-42, the Huskies<br />
Emily Collins scored<br />
Lake Forest junior Halle Douglass glides in for a layup attempt on her way to<br />
25 points in the Scouts’ loss Saturday, Jan. 12, in Lake Forest. Photos by Dave<br />
Kraus/22nd Century Media<br />
back-to-back layups and<br />
buried two free throws to<br />
put Hersey ahead 48-43<br />
with 1:22 to play.<br />
Mary Kate Fahey ultimately<br />
sealed the game by<br />
converting three of four<br />
foul shots to make it 51-43<br />
with 43 seconds left.<br />
Wilhelm said his team<br />
couldn’t get going on offense,<br />
and Hersey adjusted<br />
effectively to what the<br />
Scouts were doing on defense.<br />
It was an even game<br />
most of the way, but in the<br />
second quarter, Lake Forest<br />
looked like it was on<br />
the verge of seizing control<br />
after scoring eight straight<br />
points — five from Grace<br />
Tirzmalis and a three-point<br />
play by Douglass — to<br />
turn an 18-15 deficit into a<br />
23-18 advantage.<br />
But the Huskies responded,<br />
tying it at 24-24.<br />
After Hersey went up<br />
38-32 in the third, Lake<br />
Forest came back again,<br />
going ahead 43-42 with<br />
Douglass scoring nine to<br />
go with a layup by Finola<br />
Summerville.<br />
Douglass’ performance<br />
was especially impressive<br />
considering how poor she<br />
was shooting the ball.<br />
The junior only made<br />
four field goals on the<br />
night, but sank 17 free<br />
throws. She knew more<br />
often than not that if she<br />
attacked, she would draw<br />
contact and end up at the<br />
charity stripe.<br />
“When she goes to the<br />
basket, she’s going to<br />
score, or get a rebound<br />
almost every time,” Wilhelm<br />
said. “That’s why<br />
teams end up fouling her.<br />
She made 17 free throws.<br />
If that isn’t the definition<br />
of borderline unstoppable,<br />
I don’t know what is. She’s<br />
27 points shy of 1,000<br />
career points. But she’s<br />
extremely unselfish. The<br />
players run the floor well<br />
and Halle finds them. We<br />
just didn’t have enough<br />
flow on offense today.”<br />
Tirzmalis added 8 points<br />
while Ellie Pearson had 7.<br />
Injury to insult<br />
As the game ended, the<br />
Scouts’ offensive woes<br />
were not their biggest concern.<br />
In the last 15 seconds,<br />
Douglass went down with<br />
an ankle injury while going<br />
up for a rebound. She<br />
had to be helped off of the<br />
court.<br />
Wilhelm didn’t speculate<br />
on the severity of the<br />
injury.<br />
“It’s a bit of a recurring<br />
ankle injury,” Wilhelm<br />
said. “We’ll have to wait<br />
and see, but hopefully she<br />
will be OK.”<br />
Ellie Pearson (30) rises for a shot for Lake Forest.<br />
Scouts coach Kyle Wilhelm (right) is honored by <strong>LF</strong>HS<br />
Athletic Director Tim Burkhaller before the game for<br />
becoming the winningest coach in program history.<br />
Coach kudos<br />
Before the game, Wilhelm<br />
was honored for having<br />
set the record earlier<br />
this year for most wins by<br />
a coach in program history.<br />
He currently sits at 109<br />
in his eighth season.<br />
“I think it speaks to the<br />
coaching staff we have<br />
— we’ve been together<br />
for a while — and it goes<br />
all the way down to the<br />
feeder system,” Wilhelm<br />
said. “We’ve created a lot<br />
of positive buzz for Lake<br />
Forest girls basketball.<br />
And a lot of these girls I’ve<br />
known for a long time.<br />
Last year’s senior class I<br />
had known those girls for<br />
eight years. When the familiarity<br />
with the players<br />
is there before they get to<br />
high school, it makes the<br />
transition for them much<br />
easier.”
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