Girls basketball: Balance and depth lead Joliet West past Yorkville

Joliet West's Maziah Shelton (25) takes a shot between Yorkville defenders Alex Stewart (22) and Kaelie Moreno (13) during a girls' basketball game at Yorkville on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.

YORKVILLE – A balanced team effort from both the starters and those who came off the bench powered Joliet West to a 58-51 Southwest Prairie Conference win over Yorkville on Thursday.

The Tigers (14-8, 8-2) were led in scoring by the usual suspects as Maziah Shelton had a game-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds, and Destiny McNair scored 18 points.

However, it was the contributions of players such as Brooke Schwall (8 points, 9 rebounds), Makayla Chism (6 points, 4 rebounds), Symone Pittman (5 points) and Ashlei Thomas – who manned the point guard position for long stretches when starter Christina Keoborakot was in foul trouble – that turned the tide in Joliet West’s favor.

“Everyone stepped up and played well,” McNair said. “It’s been that way the last few games. I am really proud of everyone on the team for the way they are stepping up.”

The balance showed itself early as Keoborakot scored the first West point with a free throw, and Schwall scored off an assist from McNair. Shelton followed with a basket, then McNair got a fast break layup and Schwall scored off a feed from Keoborakot to put the Tigers ahead 9-2.

As would be the case all night, however, Yorkville (13-10, 5-5) fought back, going on an 11-4 run to tie it at 13 before Pittman hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give West a 16-13 lead going into the second. Kaelie Moreno (4 points) and Brooke Spychalski (5 points) combined for nine points in the Foxes’ run.

West opened the second on a 10-5 run, capped by a three-point play by Shelton after going the length of the floor after grabbing a rebound, to move out to a 26-18 lead. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the first half and the Tigers went into halftime with a 35-27 lead.

Joliet West's Destiny McNair (14) drives around Yorkville defender Ava Diqui during a girls' basketball game at Yorkville on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.

The Tigers inched the lead to 41-31 midway through the third, but Yorkville scored the next six points on a basket by Spychalski, who led the team with 13 points, and a pair of hoops by Alex Stewart, who scored 10 in the second half after being held to one in the first. Moreno, who had eight points off the bench, scored on a putback for Yorkville to close the gap to 45-40 before McNair hit a 3-pointer to put West ahead 48-40 after three.

Shelton asserted herself at the start of the fourth, getting an assist on a basket by Schwall to start the period, then scoring back-to-back buckets to push West out to a 54-40 lead. Yorkville outscored West 11-4 the rest of the way, but it was not enough.

“We played well,” West coach John Placher said. “We got good minutes from some of the girls off the bench, like Ashlei Thomas and Symone Pittman. Yorkville is a scrappy team and they kept running fresh legs out there, so getting quality minutes off the bench for us really helped.

“In the second half, we played better defense. They went to a 2-3 zone and we are able to attack that pretty well and get some good looks. Brooke Schwall has really been coming on lately. She’s a good defender and rebounder at 6-1, she has a nice touch from 10 feet in and she’s a good free throw shooter. We are playing some pretty good basketball lately.”

Yorkville's Brooke Spychalski (11) gets through the Joliet West defense and scores as time runs out in the 2nd quarter during a girls' basketball game at Yorkville on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.

Yorkville coach Kim Wensits was happy with her team’s refusal to let a big deficit get them down.

“We were a little lax at times, but we battled back,” she said. “We didn’t quit against a good opponent. We were down 14 at one point and came back to get within seven at the end.

“We have a pretty deep team, and it’s a different player stepping up almost every game. Brooke Spychalski and Kaelie Moreno came off the bench and played well tonight. Joliet West is one of the better teams in the conference, and we were right there with them most of the way.”