Girls basketball: Gracen Gehrke helps Lincoln-Way Central stay undefeated with win over Stagg

PALOS HILLS – Senior guard Gracen Gehrke was glad to have the hot hand while her Lincoln-Way Central teammates struggled to get going early in Monday night’s game.

Gehrke was the only Knight to score in the first half, producing all 13 of her team’s points. But she knew if she could just keep the Knights close, her teammates would find their way in the second half.

“I haven’t done that before,” Gehrke said about scoring all the first-half points. “But I think honestly the rest of the girls weren’t playing badly, the shots just weren’t falling. It was just a rough first half. I think all the shots they were taking were really good, they just didn’t happen to fall.

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Lincoln-Way Central’s Gracen Gehrke looks to pass against Stagg on Monday, Dec. 11th, 2023 in Palos Hills. (Gary Middendorf/gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com)

“Right before the second half, I was like, ‘Guys, I’ve got a good feeling about this half. I feel like we’re going to make our shots.’”

Gehrke was right. Her teammates started making shots, and the Knights’ defense took over late as visiting Lincoln-Way Central stayed undefeated with a 41-34 win over Stagg in a SouthWest Suburban Conference Red game.

Gehrke finished with 18 points for the Knights (9-0, 1-0 SWSC Red). Gianna Amadio and Brooke Baechtold added eight points each, with Amadio pulling down 13 rebounds. Lina Panos chipped in five points and eight rebounds.

Abbey Hobart scored 11 points, and Ameli Sanchez added nine points for Stagg (5-6, 1-2).

Although Lincoln-Way Central still is perfect on the season, offense has been a struggle at times – never more so than in the first half Monday night. Aside from Gehrke, the Knights missed all 15 of their shots.

Fortunately for them, Gehrke connected on three 3-pointers, along with a 2-pointer and a pair of free throws.

“Every time I touch the ball, I’m looking to shoot when I’m that hot,” she said.

Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Campanile knows his team can rely on Gehrke for a boost.

“Gracen is not afraid to take the big shot,” Campanile said. “She’ll keep shooting it until she needs to stop. We appreciate that kind of instinct from her.”

Gehrke’s scoring kept the Knights close despite the slow start. They trailed 18-13 at halftime.

Baechtold then buried back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third quarter to get the rest of the Knights going.

“Our team really needed those 3s,” Baechtold said. “We were still down. I knew I had to put them in and help us get back in the game.

“It feels like a team confidence boost because then everybody feels like they can start to put them in. Gracen and I had that fire, and then everything else started going in, like our layups, free throws and everything.”

Baechtold’s 3-pointers were part of an 8-3 surge for Lincoln-Way Central to start the second half, her second tying the score at 21.

“I think we just needed to hit a couple to get off the schneid a little bit,” Campanile said. “This is a tough gym to shoot in a lot of times, and we just needed a couple to get some confidence going.

“Brooke being able to be that second shooter for us is huge. There’s no star, so we need to get team wins.”

The Knights relied on their bread and butter to complete the comeback: defense. Down 28-27 entering the fourth quarter, Lincoln-Way Central shut out Stagg for the first 6:23 of the final quarter to take command.

“Defense is our identity,” Baechtold said. “It keeps us in the games, especially because some games our offense just isn’t there.”

Amadio scored six points in the fourth quarter to help the Knights close out the win.

“We’ve started slow in a lot of games and I think we’ve learned how to come back from that,” Gehrke said. “I’d rather we learn how to come back from a loss than win every game by 20 points and then when it really matters in the postseason we don’t know how to come back.”