Nora Ezike leads Lyons to West Suburban Conference title over Downers Grove South

VILLA PARK – Nora Ezike and her Lyons Township teammates didn’t have their best performance, but it was still more than good enough to end the regular season on a high note.

The Stanford-bound Ezike led all players with 18 points and eight rebounds to help the Lions beat Downers Grove South 46-40 in the West Suburban Conference championship game Thursday night at Willowbrook.

It was the third conference title of Ezike’s star-studded career and it put the Lions (29-2) one win away from tying the school record for wins.

“I’m excited and I’m proud of the team because last year we didn’t win conference, which was one of our goals,” Ezike said. “My freshman and sophomore years we did, so it’s good to come back this season and win conference, and not only win conference but come out undefeated as well.”

The Lions, who won the Silver Division with a 12-0 record, came out fast, executing three quick passes that led to junior Gwen Smith’s layup just four seconds after tip-off.

Smith had six of her 12 points and Ezike added five points and three rebounds in the first quarter as the Lions jumped out to a 15-6 lead. They extended the cushion to 26-11 at halftime and 43-25 after three quarters.

Ezike, Smith and junior Emma O’Brien, who had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, accounted for all but four of LT’s points.

LT coach Meghan Hutchens pulled her starters to start the fourth quarter, but had to bring them back in for the final minute after Downers Grove South (16-15) pulled within 45-38 on a 3-pointer by junior Jakylah Thomas.

“At the end we wanted to give the bench an opportunity, so they got opportunity,” Hutchens said. “It clearly wasn’t how they wanted it to go, but that’s partly why you leave them in there – to figure it out.”

It was hard for either coach to figure out their teams’ relatively lackluster play. The game, which was delayed a day due to the weather, had an anticlimactic feel to it amid a subdued crowd.

“It’s weird,” Hutchens said. “It wasn’t our best effort offensively and defensively.

“I don’t like the timing of it, but I’m not concerned with our effort moving forward to the playoffs. I just think we need to learn from this.”

Thomas had 15 points and three steals and senior Hayven Harden added 13 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs, who won the Gold Division with an 11-1 record but never led against the heavily favored Lions.

“I thought (the flat atmosphere) definitely played a role, but we told our kids at halftime, ‘You guys don’t even look like you’re having fun,’” Downers South coach Lyndsie Long said. “This is supposed to be fun and the atmosphere is supposed to be fun.

“I just feel like in the past it’s been a little bit more rowdy. But I think everybody is just at that breaking point of ‘I’m tired,’ so I get it.”

The Lions did not make a 3-pointer, going 0 for 16 from the beyond the arc, while the Mustangs went 5 for 18. But it didn’t matter because the Lions dominated inside with the 6-foot-2 Ezike and 6-1 O’Brien, who helped LT to a 32-19 advantage on the boards.

“Definitely we need to do some shooting in practice, but I feel like the shots will start to fall,” Ezike said. “Obviously, on a bad shooting day from deep, it was good that we got the ball inside and were scoring.

“I feel like at the beginning I had pretty good defense. I had a few steals and baskets, which helped, and then a lot of people were transitioning and making their baskets as well.”

Despite the result, Long said playing the Lions was good preparation for the playoffs.

“They’re an amazing team,” Long said. “They’re top 20 in the nation, so just to be able to play them was really cool.

“We went into the game saying, just have fun, work on getting better win or loss. It was just let’s work on doing what we need to work on to get ready for next week.”