The senior backcourt of Germeisha McGee and Shavonne Lewis took turns shouldering the load for Eisenhower in a romp over Thornridge on Friday.
McGee led the charge with 15 points and Lewis did a little of everything, registering eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in the Cardinals’ 42-24 victory at the T.F. South Holiday Tournament.
The two have played together on the varsity for four years, and McGee said they “talk with their eyes” while on the court.
“We really built some confidence beating T.F. South (on Thursday),” Lewis said of the team’s 44-41 victory. “We were focused and that carried over into this game.”
TahSherria Duncan led Thornridge with eight points and four steals. Destiny Newson came off the bench to pull down a game-high nine rebounds for the Falcons, who still are searching for their first win.
Eisenhower (6-9) stormed out to a 12-1 advantage and led by 10 points at the half. Lewis and McGee combined to outscore Thornridge 13-11 over the first two quarters.
The Falcons (0-11) started chipping at the lead during a frantic third quarter. Duncan buried a three-pointer to cap a 6-0 run, trimming Eisenhower’s advantage to 25-17.
“Once we have a lead, we need to keep that momentum up,” McGee said. “We stopped communicating on defense and that’s when we started to give it away.”
Eisenhower then went on a 17-5 run to ice the win, sealing it with a full-court pass from Lewis to McGee for an uncontested bucket.
The victory sends Eisenhower to the third-place game against Thornwood at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Gloshae McGee added six points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals.
Crete-Monee 59, Thornwood 45: Crete-Monee (15-1) advanced to the title match against Bradley at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Thornwood fell to 5-5.
Bradley 47, T.F. South 38: Bradley (7-6) was led by Jasmine Elliot’s 13 points. Kaniesha McIntosh scored nine points and Ninah Bertrand added eight for T.F. South (4-9).
Shepard 57, Joliet West 55: Myrissha Mitchell poured in a game-high 15 points and Mary Grace Valenta added 13 for Shepard (7-10). Treanna Perry (12 points) led Joliet West (3-8).
