By Scott Taylor
Sports Editor
A young Niles West team came away with a strong showing at the York Thanksgiving Tournament, going 3-2.
The Wolves opened play with a win over Conant, then fell to Downers South 59-52. They came back to take down host York 37-33, but fell to Prospect 57-51. They finished play on a strong note, topping Oswego 58-51 to finish over .500, despite having a small and young squad.
Niles West senior Jalynn Estrada scored 17 points against Downers Grove South.
“We don’t have a lot of size,” Niles West coach Tony Konsewicz said. “We’re a young team and we’re going to have some growing pains. We have to take away cuts to the basket and we give up too many second opportunities.”
Leading the team this year is senior point guard Jalynn Estrada, who had 17 points against Downers South.
“She is a heck of a player,” Konsewicz said of Estrada. “She is still trying to get into a rhythm, but it is early in the season. She has deep three-point range. She finishes good at the basket. She plays hard and goes to the basket hard. She has a motor that goes and is disruptive on defense. She is a talented player.”
Sophomore Tricia Pabst and freshman Sam Galanopoulos provide a strong three-guard lineup. Galanopoulos had 12 against DGS, while Pabst scored 11.
“Trish came in halfway through the season last year and is a capable shooter and very smart defensively,” Konsewicz said. “She knows where to be on the floor. Then Sam doesn’t play as a freshman. She takes and hits big shots. She has a high basketball IQ. We have to get used to playing with one another. We’re young, but energetic.”
“Niles West came out to play and we knew that their guards are very good,” Downers South coach Lyndsie Long said.” Coming into the game we knew they were going to pressure us and take the ball to the rim.They flat out outplayed us, but we came out on top.”
Konsewicz is happy with the start of the season.
“It’s a long season,” Konsewicz said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. It was nice to win the first one off the bat and we competed tonight against a bigger team.”
Not only did the tournament provide a solid slate of games and opponents, by playing it early in the season, the Wolves were able to get a week of practices to fix mistakes before playing more games. The main things they were expected to work on were on the defensive side.
“The keys are going to be defensively,” Konsewicz said. “We’re slow to rotate and we’re struggling with defensive concepts. We’re a young team and we’ve only had a few weeks. It’s going to take time to adjust to the speed of the varsity game. We have some things to work on, but a tournament like this is good because we have a week off and can work on some things. It is good competition for us and will get us ready for conference.”
In a loaded CSL South conference, Niles West hopes to compete with the top teams and pick up some wins in the process.
“I feel our conference is one of the top in the state,” Konsewicz said. “All are big, talented teams. New Trier was third in the state last year. We want to compete and pick up a conference win here and there. We want to prepare to get better for the tournament and build towards the end of the season.”
BOYS HOOPS
Maine South went 4-0 and took home the title at the Maine West Thanksgiving Tournament.
Brad Perry had 17 points and 21 rebounds in the finale against Maine West. Jon Arenas added 26 points and seven rebounds, while Milos Ljiljak had 14 points.