Girls basketball: St. Edward builds early lead in controlling Wheaton Academy

ELGIN – Freshman Savannah Lynch continues to spark St. Edward’s offense, scoring 25 points Tuesday night in a 50-41 Green Wave win over Chicagoland Christian Conference foe Wheaton Academy.

The victory in St. Edward’s home and league opener snapped a four-game losing streak.

“Savannah is really a dynamic player, and she has been fueling our offense especially while Maggie (Jarzemsky) has been hurt,” St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson said.

“Number 2 (Lynch) had a great game tonight,” said Erin Carewell, Wheaton Academy’s coach. “She was great inside and outside.”

The Green Wave’s basketball IQ is also improving according to Dawson.

“I think we played a smarter ballgame tonight than our last couple of outings. We had some stretches where our decision making hasn’t been what we needed it to be and tonight we were able to rebound from that,” Dawson said. “Our schedule so far has been brutal tough. We’ve been playing some really tough teams and we been battling physically but we haven’t always had the good mental decision making. That improved tonight.”

St. Edward (3-5, 1-0) jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the first quarter, limiting Wheaton Academy (6-2, 0-1) to two baskets in the period.

“The chemistry on the court tonight was also good. We were really able to hit each other on passes,” Dawson noted. “I thought our transition offense was pretty good tonight. Savannah got some breakaway buckets.”

“We were playing as a team and were getting open looks,” Lynch said. “We got those opportunities, and I was able to connect.”

Regrouping, Wheaton Academy started the second quarter on an 8-2 run to narrow St. Edward’s lead to 17-13 at the 6:57 mark of the frame. Back-to-back Lynch buckets restored the margin to eight points, a lead St. Edward held at halftime, 28-20.

“Wheaton Academy is a good team, and they were adjusting to what we were doing,” Dawson said about the more competitive second quarter.

A minute into the third quarter, the Warriors again pulled within six points on a Hannah Watson layup at the 7:07 mark of the period. Wilson finished with nine points.

Elizabeth Leadley responded with a 3-pointer from the left wing for a nine-point spread, 31-22. Wheaton Academy’s Katelyn Kulesza’s pull-up jumper halfway through the frame made it a five-point game, 33-28. The junior finished the night with 8 points.

That was as close as the Warriors would get. Leadley’s buzzer-beater layup put the Green Wave up 37-28 at the end of the period. St. Edward continued to pull away in the fourth quarter.

“We’re weren’t taking care of the ball. We had too many turnovers,” Carwell said.

Abby Schroeder scored 13 points for Wheaton Academy. Jordin Sauls tallied nine for the Green Wave.