Girls Basketball notes: Yorkville turns things around in close games during four-game winning streak

As Yorkville coach Kim Wensits assesses her team through 10 games, she could easily envision a scenario where they’re 8-2.

But she’ll take the Foxes’ recent progress.

The Foxes (6-4) have followed up a four-game losing streak with four wins in a row. And figured how to close out close games.

After dropping games to Plainfield North and West Aurora by a combined eight points – in both, the Foxes led late in – Yorkville beat Minooka, Ottawa and Metea Valley in the last week by a total of 10 points.

“They have figured how to win close games,” Wensits said. “Something we talked about after the Plainfield North and West Aurora games is we had leads in both of those games and we got to be able to finish. We’ve worked on the mental side of staying confident, staying poised and we’ve been able to do that. You need to have that short term memory.”

Senior guard Alex Stewart has more often than not led the Foxes in scoring, but Wensits has been glad to see different girls alternate as the second girl in the scoring column.

“Makenzie Sweeney in games has stepped up nicely, Brooke [Spychalski] a couple games has reached double figures, Ava [Hendershott] has. Even [Monday night] some kids who didn’t play as many minutes, three of my seniors, stepped up and scored. I’m happy for those kids for staying with it and it paid off.”

The most dramatic win of Yorkville’s recent run came on Saturday against Ottawa.

The Foxes slowly chipped away at a Pirates’ lead, and with under a minute left Sweeney stepped up and took a big charge. Yorkville got the ball back, swung it around and Lainey Gussman stepped up and hit what proved to be the game-winning shot with 20 seconds left of a 48-46 victory.

“We talk about confident shooters be ready to shoot whenever you’re open – she drained it,” Wensits said. “I was glad to see that she was confident in her shot. She played varsity as a sophomore last year but it’s still a nerve racking situation. A lot of time you want to pass up the shot. She got an open look and didn’t pass it up.”

A busy stretch of six games in 11 days finishes off with a home game with Kaneland Wednesday and a road trip to Oswego Friday.

“We’ve only practiced 4-6 hours in the last week and a half,” Wensits said. “It’s kind of a grind. Any coach will tell you that even after a win there are still things to improve on. We’re getting there.”

Parkview Christian a perfect 10

Parkview Christian set a very high bar for itself last season, going 23-1 in only its third year of high school girls basketball.

The Falcons are flying high once again.

With all nine of its players back, plus three freshmen, Parkview is off to a 10-0 start heading into this week. Its average margin of victory is 34.9 points, with only win by less than double digits. The Falcons are giving up just 25.3 points per game. Parkview played primarily man-to-man last year, but has incorporated a 1-3-1 this year with some trapping.

“We’re just really excited and proud of the girls; we worked hard all summer,” Parkview coach Kayla Linden said. “We are defensively focused this year. Our slogan is to do the little things well. The girls have bought into that. One of our big things is no second shots. At the beginning of the year, a team we played had 14 second shots. In our game Saturday they had zero second shots.”

Parkview, an approved IHSA school, is not eligible to participate in the IHSA postseason – but the Falcons have played some public schools this season.

The Falcons beat Hinckley-Big Rock 53-44 and Fenton 63-41 at Parkview’s Thanksgiving shootout, and beat Earlville 60-30 and Somonauk 57-34 earlier this month.

“We want to know where we stand,” Linden said.

Leading the way has been junior guard Gracie Lambes, who is averaging 18.0 points, 6.6 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 4.8 steals per game, and senior forward Liz Griswold, averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 steals.

“They are every coach’s dream; I’m just thankful they’re on my team,” Linden said. “I remember Liz in fourth grade coming to practice and I was thinking ‘Wow this girl is going to be good.’ It’s taken time and dedication, they’re both committed to summer practices and camps, both want to play in college. They’re motivated. They’re super coachable.”

Linden said that junior Emily Howard is doing a great job defensively as one of Parkviews posts, and senior guards Zoey Matichak and Jill Shotsberger are great guards defensively who are the Falcons’ “sneak attack” offensively. Linden’s daughter, Maddie, has also been scoring for the Falcons and playing good defense.

“I feel like we have a high basketball IQ which is so cool and amazing, because then we can teach systems,” Linden said. ”This is the year we knew we’d be the real deal.”

Linden looks forward to challenging games ahead with Westlake Christian Academy out of Grayslake on Dec. 20, the Arthur Christian tournament over Christmas break and a game at Heritage Christian in Dyer, Ind. on Jan. 6.