Girls Basketball: Practice pays off big as Lincoln-Way East romps
Updated: December 26, 2011 10:25PM
There are some basic game strategies to Lincoln-Way East basketball that are employed no matter what the other team brings to the table.
“Ball pressure. Forcing baseline. Help line. If they ball screen, we try to get over the top, show your number, stop the ball,” Griffins coach Jim Martin said. “We do that no matter what they do.
“So no matter whatever they play offensively, if we’ve never seen a team before, we know stop basketball.”
Lincoln-Way East stopped Plainfield South cold in Monday’s 68-20 victory in Day 1 at the Lincoln-Way Medieval.
How cold?
It was 29-0 after one quarter as the Griffins forced 14 Plainfield South turnovers and made 12 steals.
“I was just ready to play,” said senior Taylor Johnson, who had five of the thefts. “We had that one layoff (18 days) and when we came back and beat H-F and then we had more time off (10 days) for Christmas.
“Oh, it was terrible. We were just practicing and practicing. We were really ready to get out there.”
Johnson topped 12 different scorers for the No. 3 Griffins (8-0) with 12 points, while Amy Jacobsen added 11, Caitlin McMahon eight and Natalie Hill six.
Plainfield South (1-9) was paced by Leslie Hamilton (six points).
Lincoln-Way East led 33-0 before the Cougars scored with 2:43 remaining in the first half on a free throw by Amanda Hill.
All that without a scouting report.
“Yeah,” Jacobsen said, chuckling. “We were just excited to come out and play our game. This tournament means a lot to us, to keep the tradition of winning going.”
The Knights are the two-time defending champions.
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