Girls Basketball: Nikki Baird saves her biggest basket for last for Wheaton North

WHEATON – Wheaton North senior Nikki Baird has amassed points throughout four varsity girls basketball seasons.

Her current total is 1,050.

For her final Bill Neibch Falcon Classic game Saturday, Baird delivered perhaps her biggest basket so far.

Driving the lane under heavy pressure, Baird banked in a left-handed shot with 6.7 seconds left as the Falcons edged Downers Grove North 42-40 for third place.

“That was one of my shots freshman year, kind of fading away with my left, so I thought maybe my shot will fall,” said Baird, who scored 14 points. “Oh my gosh, this was so much fun. Maybe I’ll remember that shot in 10 years, but I’m just going to remember all of the fun times we’ve had as a team.”

Baird, Wheaton North freshman Claire Hyde and Downers North junior Ellie Gross made the 10-player all-tournament team.

Baird led all players with 77 points for four games and was second in three-pointers (11) and third in rebounds (37).

“Baird is a nightmare because she can beat you outside, she can beat you off the bounce,” Downers North coach Stephan Bolt said. “They made really, really tough plays down the stretch and hats go off to them. That was a fun game to play in.”

Wheaton North (12-1) also beat Downers North (11-6) for third last year 44-30. In Friday’s semifinals, the top-seeded Falcons suffered their first loss, 78-70 to Bartlett in overtime.

“Our kids being so young in a big moment like that, we learned a lot. I told our kids it was not easy, it was not fun, but we knew we’d get better from that loss,” Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton said. “Defensively Downers North is one the best teams we’ve played. Our kids did a great job of just gutting it out against a really good team.”

Baird scored 29 points Friday. Her 1,000th point Thursday against Schaumburg came on a first-quarter layup. Older sister Chrissy scored 1,076.

“I didn’t know exactly, but I had an idea of when (1,000) would be,” said Baird, a Belmont recruit. “It was kind of a louder reaction so I thought maybe that was it.”

Point guards Gross (47) and Hyde (46) were 11th and 12th in tournament points. Both played Saturday’s fourth quarter with four fouls. Hyde (8 points) fouled out with 5:01 left but sophomore guard Julia Simon (9 points) arced a shot over 6-foot-2 Jalyn Harris to put the Falcons ahead 40-38 and deflected the pass to Gross for a final shot as time expired.

On Friday, Hyde drove the floor and scored to force overtime. “[All-tournament] means a lot. I didn’t think I was going to get it,” Hyde said. “It’s encouraging going forward to have this kind of appreciation.”

The No. 3 Trojans lost to champion Glenbrook South 44-32 Friday after trailing 11-0. Downers North limited Wheaton North to 25 points the final three quarters after trailing 17-13. Senior Julia Kramper and Gross each had 11 points and Harris 11 rebounds. Senior Lauren Sebek admirably defended Baird on a tweaked ankle.

“We’ve got to be tougher finishing around the basket,” Bolt said. “When we start finishing, we’re going to be dangerous because we can defend at a high level.” Gross increased her 2017 tournament scoring by 25 points. Her free throws with 31.7 seconds tied Saturday’s game 40-40 and third-quarter three gave the Trojans their first lead at 25-23.

"[All-tournament is] nice but definitely I’m more happy about how we played as a team and how we battled this entire tournament,” Gross said. “When we have a good scoring mentality paired with our defense, it’s going to be fun games.”