Lauren Porcelli tallied 14 points in the Trojan’s win over Oak Park-River Forest.
By Scott Taylor
Sports Editor
What a difference a half makes.
After struggling throughout the first half offensively, Downers Grove North rebounded in the second half to top WSC Silver leading Oak Park-River Forest 49-45 in overtime Thursday in Downers Grove.
After scoring just five points in the first quarter, the Trojans fell behind 19-8 in the second quarter before cutting the deficit to 20-16 at the half.
In the second half the Trojan’ offense attacked the OPRF zone much better, resulting in 18 third-quarter points as they took a 34-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
“The ball movement was better,” Downers North coach Stephen Bolt said. “I thought in the first half we were a little stagnant and were just passing the ball around. (In the second half) Lauren (Porcelli) and Jaida (Green) were able to get into the seems of the zones and get the ball inside and out to the shooters.”
“In the beginning their zone was tripping us up and we were having trouble scoring,” Porcelli said. “We were just shooting a lot of threes. But in the second half we started passing and working well together and I think we were able to knock down our shots because we were playing together. By driving we were able to open up shots for other people.”
It was a back-and-fourth game in the fourth quarter and the Huskies sent the game into overtime with a basket in the closing seconds.
But the overtime belonged to Green and Porcelli, who took over the game to lead the Trojans to the win, despite having a turnover and two missed 1-and-1 free throws in the closing seconds.
Green finished with 16 points, while Porcelli added 14 points.
“Our seniors stepped up big tonight,” Bolt said. “Lauren made some big plays tonight and Jaida made some big shots. We did not shoot the ball well in the first half, but defensively we grinded things out. We wanted to stay alive in the conference and we did that with Oak Park being in first place.”
“We definitely kicked it into gear in the second half and ended well,” Green said. “It was a really big game and at halftime we said we really had to get this win. The shots started to fall, which is really a good thing.”
The win helped the Trojans stay alive in the conference race as they moved to 4-3 and Oak Park fell to 6-2.
“This was huge for us,” Porcelli said. “This gives us a huge push forward in conference. This shows how far we can go when we work together.”
It marked the fourth straight conference win for North.
“We started out 0-3 and then came together as a team and communicated about what are our goals. Since then the kids have really responded in a positive way. All four of our seniors have steered that ship the right way and have bought into it.”
Moving forward, the key for the Trojans’ success is on defense.
“We have to defend,” Bolt said. “We want to hold teams to single digits in quarters. That is what is going to keep us in games when it comes down to it.”
“We need to continue playing as a team,” Green said. “When we work together on defense we are really good. We move together and we talk like we are one unit and when we do that, we can limit teams to under 40 points.”
The winning streak came to an end Saturday with a loss to Hinsdale Central.