Lyons and St. Joseph suffered loses Friday night for various reasons but by Saturday afternoon, Lyons had figured out a winning formula.
Poor shooting, which doomed Lyons in a loss to West Suburban Silver rival Hinsdale Central one day earlier, didn’t seem to be a problem in a 56-47 nonconference victory at St. Joseph Saturday.
Senior Ashanti Davis scored 16 of her team-high 20 points in the first half while four other Lyons players had at least seven points in a bounce-back performance. Scoring was Lyons’ biggest problem in a 54-38 loss to Hinsdale in LaGrange. It was only the third time Lyons had scored less than 40 points in a game this season.
Davis set the pace Saturday, but could not continue it into the second half after being sent to the bench with her third foul early in the third quarter. She only two took shots in the second half and missed both. Her second-half points were scored on free throws.
“It was a good feeling (in the first half),” Davis said. “It was better because the team played well. We put it together and executed.”
Davis’ scoring touch, which included three 3-pointers, took the pressure off the rest of her teammates. She made a halfcourt running jumper three-pointer to end the first quarter, but the basket was disallowed after it was ruled the buzzer sounded with the ball coming out of her hand.
Morgan Houk, making her first career start, Victoria Swift and Sara Beck scored eight points each for Lyons. Sophomore point guard Gaby Galassini had all seven of her points in the second half. Galassini’s three-pointer with 2:00 remaining in the game sealed the win to give Lyons (7-4) a 56-43 lead.
St. Joseph (5-7) tied the game at 10-10 to end the first half on Kietta Saunders’ steal and layup, but Lyons scored the first 10 points in the second control to take a lead it would never relinquish. The run started with a four-point play by Davis, who was fouled by Lauren Estelle on a 3-pointer. Lyons outscored St. Joseph 23-9 in the second quarter.
The Chargers were coming off a 57-42 loss at McNamara Friday night.
St. Joseph coach Jim Maley said he noticed his players have been getting tired at the end of the games. He used all 10 of his players against Lyons.
“Everybody played today,” Maley said. “They did a nice job in the first half to keep us in it. We needed a little more gas.”
Senior Shaakera Jones scored a game-high 21 points for St. Joseph after finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds against McNamara.
“I feel like we’re getting better,” Jones said. “We were not going so well at first. The team is coming together. We can use some chemistry, but it’s coming along.”
