Girls Basketball: Lemont Drops an Overtime Thriller

After you watch someone pull down two huge rebounds late in overtime and post a game-high 16 points in a win on the road, you’ve got one happy player on your hands.

Oak Forest’s Lynn Nagle was beside herself after the Bengals’ 43-38 win over South Suburban Conference rival Lemont on Tuesday night.

“I was doing so much screaming, I can’t even talk,” said a hoarse Nagle after the win. “I feel like Lemont is our biggest rival, and I’m so proud of my team. We really, really fought.”

The heated, physical, close game was par for the course between the two teams.

“It’s always a barnburner, every time we come here,” Oak Forest coach Steve Schanz said. “I’m just so proud of the girls for taking those figurative punches and coming out on top. It’s a great win.

“Lynn Nagle rebounded her tail off the entire game, but I thought all the girls played with heart and passion.”

Oak Forest (13-6, 7-1 in SSC play) came out hot from behind the three-point line, outscoring Lemont (10-10, 6-2) 13-5 in the first quarter thanks to a Nagle trey and a two from Tori Dodson. A fast-break layup from Colleen Emmett and a Nagle drive rounded out Oak Forest’s first-quarter scoring.

The teams each netted six points in the second quarter and Oak Forest led 19-11 at halftime, but Lemont was about to play the best quarter played by either side.

The third quarter belonged to Lemont and senior Brenna Koerner. Koerner netted eight of her team-high 13 points in the third, including the first six of a 10-0 Lemont scoring run.

“She’s very capable of doing that, and there were no adjustments we made in the third quarter,” Lemont coach Bill Bozue said. “We just needed to relax and run our plays.”

Koerner had a layup, a bucket in the post and a baseline jumper off a nice drive and kick-out feed from teammate Amy Skowronski, whose play was also pivotal in the third.

An Annie Forzley trey finished the Lemont run before Oak Forest’s Emily Naegele hit a 15-footer to tie the game at 21-21. Lemont led 27-25 heading into the final quarter, but Oak Forest was ready to throw a counterpunch.

“We played a great defensive first half, but give credit to Lemont–they came out hot in the third quarter,” Schanz said. "But we withstood it. We took their best shot.”

A Nagle trey early in the fourth gave the Bengals a one-point lead, but when Lemont’s Alena Pranckevicius drove the baseline and found teammate Mykala Walton for an 8-footer in the lane, the pattern of fourth-quarter lead changes was set.

Lemont led 36-32 with 1:40 left  on two Forzley free throws, but two free throws from Katie Swanson (8 points) and a late inside basket from Colleen Sherwood sent the game into overtime.

The extra four minutes of play started with a steal and coast-to-coast spin move from Forzley, but that would be Lemont’s lone basket in overtime. Sherwood found Swanson cutting to the basket for an easy hoop, and Nagle scored inside to give her side a 40-38 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.

“Coach told us we handled the hardest part of the game and to keep pushing,” Nagle said. “And that’s what we did. We never let up.”

Lemont went 5-of-9 from the free throw line in the final quarter and 0-of-4 in overtime, while Oak Forest went 13-of-17 for the game.

“They made their free throws and we didn’t,” Bozue said. “That was the difference. And they play more of an aggressive brand of basketball. Overall, I thought our defense was pretty good, but unfortunately we had lapses here and there when it was really close.”