Yorkville pushes tempo in big win over St. Francis

DARIEN – Yorkville senior guard Lainey Gussman had some advice for her teammates before taking the floor against St. Francis on Tuesday night.

“Seeing only eight girls on their team, I said, ‘Run them out of the gym,’” Gussman said. “I mean, we don’t have that many more, but…”

But the Foxes followed Gussman’s advice. They scored the first 10 points of the game and sprinted to a 21-3 lead en route to a 71-39 victory on the opening night of the Brenda Whitesell Thanksgiving Tournament at Hinsdale South.

The 5-foot-10 Gussman led the way, scoring a career-high 19 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

“She’s been playing incredibly well and I thought she did a nice job of knowing when to attack, when to pass, when to push,” Yorkville coach Kim Wensits said. “Defensively, though, she’s one of our best players and she’s so long and lengthy.

“I knew coming in that (Riley Austin) was their best returner, and she did a great job against her. (Austin) did not get many easy looks tonight.”

The 5-10 Austin scored 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Arianna Naples paced St. Francis (0-1) with 13 points, but no one else scored more than six for the Spartans, who shot 14 of 49.

“Our girls didn’t quit,” St. Francis coach Jeff Gerdeman said. “We had some young ones step up.

“We saw good things from everyone at different times, just not consistently.”

Consistency was not a problem for the Foxes (1-0), who forced turnovers on the first six possessions of the game and 10 in the first quarter. They also sank five consecutive shots, starting with Gussman’s driving layup 50 seconds after tip-off.

“We’ve really been preaching mindset and tempo,” Wensits said. “We want to play fast-paced.

“We have a very veteran group and I feel like I can trust them out there to know when to push the tempo and when not to. Boy, did they take off and just go. It starts with defensive stops.”

The Foxes got plenty of those, many of which led to transition baskets. That’s going to be a hallmark of Yorkville’s strategy.

“We simplified our defense, so I think that really helped us get ball pressure and cause havoc,” Gussman said. “That’s what we preach in our program and so we like to push it down the floor.

“I think endurance (is key). We’ve done a lot of sprints in practice, so it definitely helps being in shape and being able to push the tempo.”

The Foxes did so efficiently while staying under control. They committed only nine turnovers, four of which came in the fourth quarter.

“They are a very solid team,” Gerdeman said. “They gave great effort and they were hitting everything.

“They beat us down the floor. They must have had 30 points on fast breaks.”

Indeed, Yorkville scored eight straight points in transition after Tea Rubino made two free throws to pull the Spartans pulled within 30-21 in the second quarter.

Bella Phillips tallied 14 points for Yorkville, while Brooke Spychalski, who had a game0high five assists, and Sydney McCabe each added 13 points and Madi Spychalski scored eight to go with seven rebounds. All but McCabe are seniors.

“For me, this season is the last one with this group of girls and we’ve been together a long time,” Gussman said. “I think taking in every moment and just being present is important because this will be the last time we all get to play together.

“We’re a super close team. I think that’s what makes our team so great is we’re so close. We have chemistry that I think is unstoppable.”