Defense the Difference as Lemont Tips Richards

On those nights when your offense doesn't make it to the game, it's always a good idea to pack a little extra defense just in case.

Lemont's girls basketball team had just such a night Friday at home. The Indians held Richards scoreless for more that 10 minutes to open the game and rode that defense to a 33-24 victory over the Bulldogs.

"We were just so unfundamental, but defensively, we were very solid," Lemont coach Bill Bozue said. "When the ball's not going in, you can still play defense."

On a night when there were more turnovers than points, Lemont's defense forced the issue, with guard Annie Forzley creating pressure up front and forwards Brenna Koerner and Amy Skowronski forcing the issue on the wings. But it took Lemont almost four minutes before it scored, the Indians inching their way to a 9-0 lead after the opening period.

The lead stretched to 13-0 before Raneisha Hill scored on a layup. With three Bulldogs in foul trouble, Richards turned to sophomore Allison Stazak, who scored six points in the last three minutes of the quarter to keep Richards within striking distance at 19-11 at halftime.

"I thought the girls played hard, but we were rushed a little out there," Richards coach Jeff Kortz said. "We just couldn't get anything to fall, but I thought we fought out of it. We got a little out of sorts, and we just couldn't get it back."

That's because the Lemont defense held Richards without a field goal for the first five minutes in the third quarter. When Forzley stole the ball out front and broke in for a layup, Lemont led 23-12. But Richards' defense stiffened as well, and Lemont still led just 25-16 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Indians ended any doubt when they broke Richards full-court press and Forzley found Koerner for a layup and a foul. The free throw stretched the lead to 28-16, and the Indians continued to play keep-away on offense and to force turnovers on defense.

With three starters fouling out, the Bulldogs got a lift off the bench from Stazak, freshman McKayla Smith, who also scored six, and senior Mary Kate Hresil. "We're still young in a few spots," said Kortz, whose team fell to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in South Suburban Conference crossover games.

Bozue, whose team improved to 7-4 and 3-0 in the SSC, will be focusing on fundamentals as his team prepares for the holidays. "We've just got to run the offense properly, make bounce passes instead of chest passes. We just need to make the easy passes."

Forzley scored nine points before fouling out with 55 seconds to go. Koerner also scored nine as Lemont survived its own cold shooting by holding Richards to 31-percent shooting.