Hot-shooting second quarter lifts Lincoln-Way West girls past Lincoln-Way Central

NEW LENOX – It is, more often than not, a hard-fought, close game whenever District 202 rivals Lincoln-Way West and Lincoln-Way Central get together.

Tuesday night was certainly that way throughout the first quarter. Both teams came out playing stingy defense, and Lincoln-Way West held a slim 9-7 lead at the first break.

The second quarter was a different story.

The Warriors got hot from behind the 3-point arc, making 5 of 8 from that range, to help outscore the Knights 19-8 in the quarter and take a 28-15 lead into halftime en route to a 60-40 SouthWest Suburban Conference victory.

“The start of the game was what you expect when these two teams play,” West coach Ryan White said. “They know each other very well. They have grown up playing either with or against each other, so they know each others' tendencies.

“It comes down to execution, and we were able to make some 3-pointers and open things up.”

Reagan McCracken, who led the Warriors (18-7, 10-1 SWSC) with 12 points, was instrumental in the barrage, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to start the quarter. Brooke Baechtold countered with a 3-pointer of her own for Central (9-16, 2-10) before Caroline Smith (11 points, 13 rebounds) hit the first of her two 3-pointers in the quarter for an 18-10 lead. Kaitlyn Weaver followed with a drive to the basket for West, putting the Warriors ahead 20-10.

After a basket by Central’s Brooke Katzmann (13 points), Smith hit a 3-pointer, Heaven Ward scored on a short jumper and Ava Tisch (9 points) connected on a 3-pointer to put West ahead 28-12, but Baechtold hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to send the Knights into halftime trailing 28-15.

“It took us a little while to get going,” Smith said. “It always seems to be that way when we play Central. They know what we want to do, so we have to figure out a way to do it.”

The Knights did not go away. They scored the first six points of the second half on a three-point play by Katzmann and a 3-pointer by Aubrey Birmingham, who led all scorers with 14 points. West answered with eight straight points, getting a 3-pointer by Smith, a driving basket by Tisch and a three-point play by Weaver.

It was Central’s turn next, and Birmingham started things off by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers before Olivia Gehrke scored on a layup to make it 36-29.

That momentum was halted when a technical foul was called on Central, and Molly Finn (10 points) made both free throws. The Warriors then got back-to-back 3-pointers by Finn and Smith to move out to a 45-29 lead, eventually taking a 47-31 edge into the fourth.

Birmingham started the fourth with a 3-pointer for the Knights, but West scored the next 11 points, a stretch that was capped when Makenzie Roesner (11 points) blocked a Central 3-point attempt at the top of the key, grabbed the ball out of midair and went the length of the floor for a layup. The Warriors saw four starters (McCracken, Smith, Roesner and McCracken) finish in double figures and the fifth, Tisch, score nine. McCracken also added six rebounds.

“We had balanced scoring tonight,” White said. “We’ve been doing that all year. You can’t just focus on one or two girls on this team. All of them can shoot.”