Girls Basketball: Amena Brent sparks Homewood-Flossmoor’s win over Lincoln-Way East
Updated: January 26, 2012 8:49PM
The previous time the two teams met, Lincoln-Way East beat Homewood-Flossmoor in the battle of the big girls as 6-foot Caitlin McMahon had a double-double and the Griffins won by seven.
Thursday night, McMahon had another double-double, but this time she had company.
When it counted, superior company.
H-F center Amena Brent bounced back from a first subpar outing to dominate underneath for the No. 15 Vikings in their 50-45 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory.
The 6-1 senior scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Charnelle Reed added 14 points and Jaiveonna Norris nine points and seven rebounds as host H-F improved to 17-6, 8-2.
McMahon finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Taylor Johnson 13 points for No. 3 East (18-3, 8-2).
“It was personal this time for me and McMahon,” said Brent, who had just six points and seven rebounds in their Dec. 15 meeting. “I wanted to outrebound her and outscore her. I wanted to make a point at our place.”
Brent didn’t succeed in either stat, but she did outplay McMahon when it mattered most.
With 2:26 left, H-F was trailing 42-41 but had the ball under its basket. Brent, with her back to the basket, took the inbounds pass and made a spin move on McMahon. She made the bank shot, drew a foul and completed the three-point play.
East tied the game with 1:17 showing on two Johnson free throws, then had possession on a Johnson steal. Brent, however, intercepted a pass on the defensive end, and the other end of the floor made another spin move and put in a scoop shot to put the Vikings in front for good.
“Amena came out and played hard tonight,” H-F coach Dana Noble said. “I challenged her in the last four games to step up and really work on getting some boards, and she really continued that today.”
East dominated early, opening up as much as a 15-7 lead after one period as Johnson, Amy Jacobsen and Nathalie Hill all hit three-pointers.
The threes stopped falling in the second period, however, and H-F used an 11-2 run to go in front. East never did get its inside game totally in rhythm and on defense got burned several times by Brent.
“We were more worried about Reed and (Danielle) Woolfolk,” Griffins coach Jim Martin said. “We didn’t double down like we should have with Amena.
“She stepped up big time with that little hook and buried them. We got beat. We’ll have to make some adjustments if we get them again.”
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