Girls basketball: Big 4th quarter by Gracen Gehrke leads Lincoln-Way Central past Lincoln-Way West

NEW LENOX – Through three quarters Monday night, Lincoln-Way Central’s Gracen Gehrke had scored only three points, which is a bit unusual for the Knights’ leading scorer.

Gehrke’s teammates had built a three-point lead over SouthWest Suburban Conference Red and District 210 rival Lincoln-Way West entering the fourth, and then she took the offensive.

The senior guard hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second giving the Knights a six-point lead with 4:37 to play. She later hit two free throws in the final 1:22 to help seal the win as Central (14-9, 5-0 SWSC Red) came away with a 42-37 victory over the Warriors (10-14, 3-2) at West.

“In the fourth quarter, I just took a step back from where I normally shoot,” Gehrke said. “I am not afraid to step back, and I was able to use that to my advantage.

“My teammates did a great job of finding me in those open spots, and I was able to hit a couple of shots.”

The game was a typical matchup of two Lincoln-Way schools, in that points were at a premium because of the teams’ familiarity with one another. The game was tied 9-all after one quarter, and Central led 24-21 at halftime and 33-30 entering the fourth.

“A game against another Lincoln-Way is never a blowout,” Gehrke said. “It’s always a tough matchup because we know what they are going to do, and they know what we are going to do. It comes down to execution.

“This win really helps us toward the conference title. They were second to us in the conference coming in, and now we have a two-game lead on them.”

The Knights saw a different player carry the offensive load in each quarter. Kiya Newson-Cole (nine points) hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, while Gianna Amadio added a three-point play. In the second quarter, Brooke Katzmann delivered five points off the bench, while Lina Panos had six of her eight points in the third quarter.

“Brooke Katzmann was a little spark plug for us,” Central coach Dave Campanile said. “She’s been doing that all year. She gives us some energy and gets us some extra possessions with offensive rebounds. We need middle touches, and Lina has a great soft touch in there.

“Gracen did a great job of not forcing things when they weren’t going great for her early. Against the zone that West plays, you have to be patient, and we were. We have some great shooters, and they know when to pick their spots to shoot.”

West was led by Peyton Madl with 14 points, while freshman Reagan McCracken added nine points and Caroline Smith had six points to go with four rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Warriors battled tough in the second quarter, taking a 21-19 lead on a 3-pointer by Mackenzie Roesner with 1:23 to play until halftime. Katzmann then tied it with a pair of free throws for Central before Gehrke hit a 3-pointer just before halftime.

West gained a 27-26 lead with 3:54 to play in the third on a pair of free throws by Molly Finn. After a 3-pointer by Central’s Brooke Baechtold, West answered with a 3-pointer by Madl to lead 30-29. Panos scored the final four points of the quarter to give Central a 33-30 lead entering the fourth, setting up Gehrke’s big quarter.

“We were able to reverse the ball well and get it to Gracen, and she hit a couple of big-time 3s,” Campanile said. “We knew if we could get the lead up to six or seven points, they would have to come out of their zone, and that’s what we wanted.”