Girls basketball: Layla Pierce, JCA cruise past Westmont in Class 2A Lisle Regional semifinal

LISLE – Layla Pierce scored from all over the court Monday night in Joliet Catholic Academy’s 53-28 win over Westmont in the Class 2A Lisle Regional semifinal.

Pierce finished with a game and season-high 30 points, hitting a couple of 3-pointers to go with her dazzling array of drives to the basket and pull-up jumpers.

“It was all about my teammates getting me the ball in position to score,” Pierce said. “Our bigs did a great job of rebounding and getting the ball to me in transition, and when we were in the half-court offense, they set some great screens for me to go around and get to the hoop.

“It’s nice to get a postseason win.”

The Angels (15-16) advance to Thursday’s regional championship game, where they will play Butler College Prep, which beat Southland College Prep 67-25 in the night’s other semifinal.

JCA raced out to an 11-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Pierce had six points in the first quarter, while Faith Pietras (5 points, 9 rebounds) had a basket and Allison McCarthy made a 3-pointer.

Pierce scored 11 points in the second quarter as JCA built a 28-11 halftime lead.

Throughout the game JCA’s Pietras, Symone Holman and Sophia Mihelich dominated on the glass. Holman had seven rebounds and MIhelich had a team-leading 11.

“We’ve been working a lot on our rebounding,” JCA coach Kaitlyn Williams said. “I have told the girls that if they can rebound, they will play. We did a great job rebounding tonight.”

Pierce was the main beneficiary, as the outlet passes from the rebounds came to her, and she was able to pick her way through the Sentinel defense seemingly at will. She hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter before heading to the bench as both teams substiituted liberally.

“Thirty is a season high for me,” Pierce said. “I kind of knew how many I had. I looked up at the scoreboard and I had 27, then I hit a 3, so I knew I had 30.

“We did a great job as a team tonight. Everyone played their roles well.”

Williams opted for a bigger starting lineup, with Pietras and Camryn Kinsella on the floor and Kaylee Vercelote and Holman coming off the bench.

“We thought a bigger lineup would be better tonight,” Williams said. “Faith did a great job scoring earlyh and getting a lot of rebounds. Then Symone and Sophia Mihelich came off the bench and got a bunch of rebounds. That’s one of the nice things about having a deep bench, I know I can put anyone in there and they will go out and to what we need them to do.

“Layla was incredible. When she is confident like she was tonight she can go for 30. She is our engine, and she really makes us go.”

Evalise Papish led Westmont (17-16) with 16 points.

“We had a good season,” Westmont coach Thomas White said. “It’s the first winning season at this school in a long time. We are starting to build something here, and a winning season is something to hang our hat on.

“I am very proud of the way the team played this year. We just put ourselves in too big of a hole early tonight and had to fight back all game.”