Fourth quarter push carries Lincoln-Way Central to victory

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NEW LENOX - In-district athletic matchups are always fun because most of the team members know each other, have played with each other or on opposite teams most of their lives.

Thursday evening was no different as Lincoln-Way West hosted Lincoln-Way Central in a SouthWest Suburban Red Division contest.

The Knights (16-6, 4-0) proved why they are the favorites to win the conference and be a team to watch come tournament time as they downed the Warriors 51-46, as they were playing without Azyah Newson-Cole. As the junior point guard was nursing an injury from the game on Tuesday against Stagg.

For the Knights it seems to be a different player every game who steps up and on this night it was sophomore Gracen Gehrke in her first start of the season.

West (8-11, 2-2) took a 28-24 lead with 5:36 left in the third quarter and then Gehrke went to work as she hit five 3′s, two in the third quarter and then three of them during an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

“We knew that it would be our defense that won the game in the second half,” Gehrke said. “We did a good job and then my teammates found me when I was open. I just tried to concentrate on each shot I took and they were falling tonight.

“These games are fun because we all know each other, we know everyone’s plays, their strengths and weaknesses on both sides. We just needed to go out and play our game and we did that.”

West led 44-40 with 6:00 left in the game and that is when Gehrke and the Knights went on an 11-0 run, holding the Warriors to just a couple of free throws with less than 30 seconds remaining.

The Knights were only 2-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half, but went 7-for-10 in the second half.

“Every game it’s somebody different for us and to have that balance of scoring across the board for us is something we have been working on for a long time.” Central coach Dave Campanile said. “Our sophomores have been great and tonight, in her first start, Gracen [Gehrke] really stepped it up.

“This team is so coachable and we weathered the storm West threw at us tonight and they all just stepped up. They are unselfish, cheer for each other and get the job done and I’m so proud of them.”

Nicole Connolly added 14 points and grabbed seven boards, with sophomore Angelina Panos scoring eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

West led 10-7 with 3:17 left in the first quarter, but Central went on a 7-0 run and after a free throw by the Warriors Aubree Schultz, the Knights led 14-11.

Both teams like to shoot the 3-ball, but in the second quarter West made one of five attempts and Central could not get one to fall as they attempted five. But the Knights Nicole Connolly scored eight points in the frame as the Knights extended their lead to 24-20 at the break.

West also made their share of three’s in the second half as they hit five, with Allie Wondrasek hitting four and finishing with 14 points. Ava Gugliuzza added 13 points and had five steals.

“Central threw a lot of help on Ava and we tried to put Allie in a position to be open and she knocked down the shots tonight,” West coach Ryan White said. This was a game of runs and they had the last big one and it’s hard to win when you score only two points the last 6:00 minutes.

“Even with the loss, I like the progress of our team. Our schedule has been brutal, but that has given us the opportunity to see just about everything and be ready come regional time. We have played well for a half or two and a half quarters a game, we just need to put it all together on the same night.”