Girls basketball: Lainey Gussman, Yorkville hustle past Plainfield East

YORKVILLE – Lainey Gussman went flying into the first two rows of bleachers to chase a loose ball.

On two other occasions during the third quarter Thursday, the Yorkville junior crashed to the court in a scrum for the ball.

That’s just the way Gussman plays.

It didn’t matter that the Foxes had a win well in hand. Gussman values every possession like a game is on the line.

“Every ball has to be yours,” Gussman said. “The basketball is what determines whether you win or lose. You have to value every possession like it’s the last one.”

Gussman was one of four Yorkville girls scoring in double figures Thursday, and also was in double digits in rebounds.

But it was that all-out effort that her coach loves most and that stood out in Yorkville’s 70-45 win over visiting Plainfield East in the Southwest Prairie Conference.

Gussman had 13 points and 12 rebounds while guarding Plainfield East star Lexi Sepulveda throughout, Kenzie Sweeney scored 17 points, and Brooke Spychalski and Madi Spychalski each scored 14 points for Yorkville (14-7, 6-1 SPC).

Yorkville coach Kim Wensits said she “wishes she had 100″ girls like Gussman, and it isn’t hard to see why.

“One of the new analytics stats is your efficiency in what you do and what your team does when you’re out on the court, and she leads us, the plus/minus, she leads us,” Wensits said. “She’s our floor general. My dad came to a couple games from out of town over break, and he said, ‘She’s the engine of your team,’ and I couldn’t agree more. She does so much many little things that won’t appear on the stat sheet – you won’t see floor burns on the stat sheet; you don’t see charge attempts. You can’t replicate that.”

Gussman can be a one-girl fast break with her rebounding and ballhandling skills. Wensits liked her aggressiveness looking for her offense.

“She’s been a little timid in our earlier games,” Wensits said. “She’s started to realize she can score, too. She has been physical, aggressive-minded, and it’s paid off.”

Gussman, favoring one leg after getting it wrapped in ice afterward, said she’s been fortunate that she’s only had a few bumps and bruises from the way she plays, luckily no major injuries. Either way, she’d still play like her spot on the team depended on it.

“Over the course of three years on varsity, you have to earn your spot on the floor,” Gussman said. “It’s important that you play like that all the time on the floor. Every opportunity you get you have to take.”

Plainfield East (5-14, 2-5) has a player like that in Sepulveda, a senior guard and Southern Indiana recruit. Sepulveda, who recently became the school’s all-time leading scorer – boys or girls – scored a game-high 22 points with three steals.

Sepulveda and Brooke Spychalski each scored their respective teams’ first seven points, with five lead changes over the game’s first three-plus minutes.

But Gussman scored two baskets during a 9-0 run that gave the Foxes a 20-9 lead, and they never looked back.

“We did well against their man [defense], got to the basket, their zone, we got some good looks, but we didn’t finish it,” Bengals coach Tony Waznonis said. “Once they went zone, it got us out of our rhythm and we started to force things. When we forced it, it gave them looks at the other end, whether breakouts or got us discombobulated defensively.”

Plainfield East, with two starters back from last season’s conference champion, just couldn’t keep up with a Yorkville team that comes at teams in waves.

Brooke Spychalski did much of the heavy lifting offensively in the first half with 12 points, with Madi Spychalski and Sweeney combining for 23 in the second half.

Whoever touches the ball, it seems, is looking to score.

“When they play well together, and they did that today for four quarters, it’s tough to stop,” Waznonis said. “It’s a tough battle to guard it all.”

It’s the third time this year Yorkville, tied with Oswego East atop the SPC standings, has broken 70 points.

“So much of that is their athleticism,” Wensits said. “They’ve played a long time, they’ve played together for a long time, they’re physical and they’re aggressive with it. We talk about that mindset wanting to score, and they do it at a high level.”

Sepulveda, who is close to 1,600 career points, was the lone Plainfield East girl to score in double figures Thursday. And she had to work for it. She shot 8 for 25 for the game, guarded much of the way but not exclusively by Gussman.

“It’s a team effort,” Gussman said. “If we’re in man, the person on the ball has to keep her in front. If it gets past you, somebody has to step up at the second level. It’s a team effort.”