Lady Hawks prevail, fall short against Woodstock foes

By Todd Rohde~CORRESPONDENT

In a matter of three days time, the Johnsburg girls basketball team played two different opponents both from Woodstock. The results though couldn’t have been more different, as they first easily prevailed for a victory and then fell by double digits in the other bout.

One thing was for sure and that was that the Lady Skyhawks came out ready to play and put forth a competitive effort in each showing. It paid off in a rewarding way in the first battle, as the Hawks posted a commanding 57-17 Fox Valley Conference victory over the Blue Streaks Dec. 4 at Johnsburg.

“It was a solid all-around team effort as the girls really played well tonight, especially on defense as they were able to limit what Woodstock was able to do by being aggressive and creating turnovers,” Skyhawk head coach Brad Frey said.

The Skyhawks wasted no time showing and proving who was the stronger and better team in this contest, as they took control right from the get go. They did so by jumping out to a comfortable 18-7 lead through the first eight minutes of play.

This would just be the start of good things to come for Johnsburg, as they would only continue to feed off of their own momentum and pout it on the rest of the way out.  The Skyhawks went on to outscore the Blue Streaks 13-6 in the second quarter to take a 31-13 lead into the locker room with them at the half.

Just when it didn’t looked as if things could get any better for the Skyhawks in the second half, they did in even more dominating fashion. Johnsburg would accomplish something that doesn’t happen very often at any level, as their defense allowed just one field goal in the final 16 minutes of play,

The Skyhawks bettered Woodstock 14-3 in the third quarter and then limited them to just a mere point in outscoring them by a 12-1 margin in the fourth quarter. Megan Landazzi and Kayla Toussaint had numerous steals during the stretch to make a difference as they led to several easy buckets.

Eleven different Skyhawks scored in the contest, as Landazzi led all with 11 points. Toussaint finished with eight points, nine steals and four assists as three other players had six points apiece.

Unfortunately things weren’t as easy or positive for the Skyhawks when they faced off against Woodstock North Dec. 7th in Johnsburg. The Skyhawks came up a little short in suffering a 46-36 FVC loss to the Thunder, thanks to a strong second-half run that made a difference.

“This was a little tougher contest for us, as they outrebounded us by a 30-board margin, which proved to be the difference,” Frey said. “They scored 14 points off of offensive rebounds, as we needed to be more active on the boards and more patient on defense.”

Things were very close and competitive through the first two quarters of play, as it was a back and forth battle. The two teams battled to a 10-10 tie in the first quarter, while the Thunder held a slim 23-21 lead at the half.

The Skyhawks offensive production dropped a bit in the second half though, as they were trying to force things up instead of spreading the ball around and running their offense. It was just enough to give North the advantage and allow them to pull away as they outscored Johnsburg 23-15 in the final two quarters.

Johnsburg was paced by Toussaint with 10 points including a pair of three pointers and six steals, as Nusser finished with eight points and Landazzi came up with six

 


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