Girls basketball: Lincoln-Way East uses big third quarter to win Sandburg Holiday Classic

ORLAND PARK – Something changed at halftime for Lincoln-Way East on Friday in the championship game of the Sandburg Holiday Classic.

The Griffins owned a hard-fought 19-18 lead at intermission against Sandburg, but their play on offense and defense improved in the third quarter. So much so that they outscored the Eagles 27-4 in the quarter to take a 46-28 lead en route to a 52-33 victory.

“In the second half, we worked more as a team,” said Lincoln-Way East’s Lilly Dockemeyer, who scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the third quarter. “We went back to playing our game.

“In the first half, Sandburg pushed us to play faster than we wanted to, and that made us turn the ball over. We slowed things down to our pace in the second half.”

Though the pace of play slowed, East’s scoring sped up.

Tournament MVP Hayven Smith opened the second half with a basket underneath before Sandburg’s Olivia Trunk tied the game at 21. Dockemeyer then gave the Griffins (16-3) the lead for good when she banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Her next 3-pointer, from the left wing, didn’t need the backboard and touched nothing but net for a 27-21 lead. Aftet Zoe Trunk hit a free throw to make it 27-22, Dockemeyer made a pair of free throws, starting a 19-0 run to end the quarter.

“At halftime, we really made minor adjustments,” Lincoln-Way East coach Jim Nair said. “The main thing was that we told the girls to relax and that the shots would fall. We missed some opportunities in the first half.

“Hats off to Sandburg, though. They came out with a lot of heart and really got after us. But our girls kept battling and things opened up.”

The shots did indeed fall, as the Griffins were 5 for 6 from 3-point range in the third. Dockemeyer hit three 3s, while Lana Kerley (10 points) hit two. They were 10 of 14 from the field in the quarter after shooting 8 of 22 from the floor before halftime.

“I struggled shooting the few games before this,” Dockemeyer said. “I worked on it after practices and got my feet under me a little better. I felt a lot better today, and it really helped to see the first one go through the net. That gave me some confidence to keep shooting.

“We take a lot of pride in our zone defense. In the second half, we did a better job of getting out on their shooters.”

Makalya Kelly scored all six points for Lincoln-Way East in the fourth as they cruised to the win. Dockemeyer led the Griffins with 13 points, while Kerley and Smith each had 10, Maddie Yacobozzi had eight and Kelly six in the second meeting of the year between the two teams.

“We like to have the balanced scoring like that,” Nair said. “Hayven is always going to get her points. She gets offensive rebounds and she gets fouled quite often and she makes her free throws. Any one of the other girls can get hot at any time. Maddie Yacobozzi had a big game to get us to this game, and Lilly and Lana had big games today. And Makayla Kelly hit some big free throws for us down the stretch.

“We played Sandburg earlier and now today, and in a week or so at our place,” Nair said. “There are no surprises when we play each other. Both teams know each other very well and it comes down to who executes better.”

Romeoville took third place in the tournament, defeating Downers Grove South 47-40. All-tournament selection Laila Houseworth led the Spartans (16-3) with 22 points, while Emily Grabelcik scored 10 and Jadea Johnson added seven.