This season hasn’t always been easy for the Plainfield South girls basketball team. In fact, more often than not, it’s been down right difficult. The Cougars have managed to find positives throughout the year as they’ve grown, though, and there’ve been more reasons to celebrate as of late.

That was especially the case Thursday night against Joliet West.

The Cougars led the Tigers by as many as 31 points in the first half while holding Joliet West without a field goal in the first period. Nothing changed in the second half as Plainfield South won for the third time in four games, beating Joliet West 67-24.

Plainfield South (10-13) had hovered around .500 much of the season before a five-game losing skid that lasted from late December to mid-January. While two of those losses were by a point, the other three were by double-digits.

They snapped the streak a week ago against Romeoville and beat the Spartans again five days later with a loss to Mother McAuley sandwiched in between. Thursday night’s domination of the Tigers made it two in a row and brought the Cougars one step closer to .500 again.

“Our defensive side (was the difference),” coach Alana Warren said. “We always try to hold our opponents to as few points as possible and I thought we locked in on the defensive side. That helped and being home always helps too.”

Thursday night’s effort was all about balance as eight players wound up in the scoring column, led by Layla Lesure (15 points), Zahira Edwards (11) and Laniya Willis (19). Warren praised her team’s ability to play unselfish basketball.

“We’re trying to work together so we can be playing well at the end of February,” Warren said. “Having all of them on the same page at the same time is the ultimate goal.”

Willis credited the team’s depth as the difference between her squad and the Tigers on Thursday.

“It feels great knowing everybody can get a bucket,” she said. “We have great team chemistry and everybody gets excited when another person scores. Having that chemistry makes the game (more fun) so it feels great, man.”

Joliet West (3-18) continued their season of “wisdom and lessons” as coach Breanna Blackmon has called it. On the court, Thursday represented the eighth consecutive loss for Joliet West. This year has always been and continues to be about growth and learning for the Tigers, though. Regardless of the scoreboard or the standings, their top focus remains on getting better.

“We can’t look at the numbers on the floor and let that determine who you are,” Blackmon said. “You just got to continue. We have to have a mentality of being ready for what’s next. ...The way we play and compete isn’t always going to show on the scoreboard. To see my girls finish with integrity and their heads held high is great, we just have to continue.”

The Tigers were led by Jada Thompson with nine points.

Neither team scoreed for the first two minutes of the game, but Edwards made sure to get the Cougars on the board first from there. The Plainfield South defense held West without a point until 4:23 remained in the opening period when Jada Thompson hit a free throw to cut the deficit to 5-1. Plainfield South made it a double-digit lead on an Edwards layup with 2:21 remaining and led 14-2 after one.

Maya Zanzola’s layup 39 seconds into the second gave West their first basket of the game, but the Cougar offense exploded from there. They outscored Joliet West 26-9 in the period and led 40-11 at the midway point.

Things were no different in the third. Edwards scored half her points in the penultimate period while the defense remained ferocious for Plainfield South. The Cougars outscored the Tigers 21-7 and the clock ran in the final period of play.