Twice is Nice for L-Way North Girls

Lincoln-Way North girls basketball coach Jim Nair knows his team can play better than it has so far this season.

And the good news for North fans is that despite not playing up to their capabilities, the Phoenix are off to a 10-1 start.

Their latest victory came on Tuesday when they took on Richards to complete pool play in the Oak Lawn Holiday Tournament.

North outscored the Bulldogs 13-6 in the second quarter to grab a 23-13 halftime lead and went on to claim a 48-36 win. With the victory, the Phoenix won their pool with a 3-0 mark and earned themselves a trip to Wednesday's 6.m. title game.

North will meet up with Romeoville (6-5), which advanced after pulling out a 53-51 overtime victory over host Oak Lawn. North also advanced to the Oak Lawn Tournament championship game a year ago, but the Phoenix fell to Harlan in that contest.

"We were fortunate to get to the championship game last year, but we didn't play our best game," Nair said. "So, we talked about getting back there this year and playing our best game in the championship.

"I'm happy that we're pulling through and getting victories, but we're not clicking yet. Hopefully, by the end of this tournament and the Medieval Classic, we'll start getting everyone to click together.

"We've been having two girls come through for us. But once we get all five girls clicking at the same time, then we could be pretty good."

The teams were tied at 7-7 late in the first quarter when Erynn Schuh (15 points) hit a three-pointer to give North the lead for good. In the second quarter, the Phoenix used a 9-3 run to build a 19-10 advantage. LaDonna Gettis scored the last two baskets in that spurt.

Richards received 10 of its 13 first-half points from Brianna LeBeau, who finished with a game-high 16-point performance.

North grabbed a 38-24 lead after three quarters after getting four points each from Stephanie Pearson (6 points) and Schuh. The Phoenix opened the final quarter with a free throw from Taylor Boardman (8 points) and a rebound bucket from Emily Jenkins (12 points).

That gave North its biggest lead at 41-24 and the Bulldogs were never able to get any closer 10 points.

"These tournaments are important, so it's definitely a goal for us to win it so that we can get our name out there and get a little respect from other teams," Schuh said. "We picked things up on defense in the second quarter. Our strength is our defense and when we want to play, we can play. It's a win, but you can always improve."