Women’s basketball: Sauk Valley shares the wealth, finds its groove to defeat Kishwaukee

DIXON – Sharing the basketball is key for the Sauk Valley Community College women’s basketball team to have success on offense.

On Thursday against Kishwaukee, the Skyhawks played selflessly and spread the wealth.

Sauk assisted on 17 of its 21 field goals, and used a huge third-quarter run to defeat the Kougars 63-48 in an Arrowhead Conference game at SVCC.

[ Photos from Sauk Valley vs. Kishwaukee women's basketball ]

“I thought we executed really well together as a team. We took our time and we got good shots,” sophomore point guard Caylyn Kimmel said. “Working together as a team, everyone played a part in this win tonight, and everyone did a really good job.”

Sauk (4-11, 2-1 Arrowhead) turned a 29-22 halftime lead into a 23-point margin by the end of the third quarter thanks to offensive execution and defensive intensity. A pull-up jumper by Kimmel to beat the shot clock gave Sauk a 10-point lead less than three minutes into the period, then Skylar Savage later scored on a scoop shot before Kimmel kicked out a pass to Ainsleigh Hendrix for a 3-pointer and a 44-27 lead with 2:39 left in the third.

“Anyone on our team can just pull through and step up at any given moment. We don’t have a specific person that always has to be on,” sophomore forward Jenna Johnson said. “We’re always pretty good about relaxing and talking with each other and hyping each other up. So if someone makes a shot, everybody kind of branches off of that. We feel like, ‘OK, so-and-so did it, I can do it too,’ and we work together and we get it done.”

Johnson went coast-to-coast for a layup off a steal, then took a pass inside from Kimmel and converted a three-point play to end the third and put Sauk ahead 52-29. Two free throws by Savage to open the fourth quarter capped the Skyhawks’ 21-4 run, as Sauk limited Kishwaukee to 3-for-16 shooting in the third quarter and forced five turnovers.

“That was the best defense we’ve played all year, without a doubt; even Coach [Julie Schroeder] said so. We just looked impeccable out there,” Johnson said. “We were getting under the screens, over the screens, whatever we needed to do to get a stop. We wanted to shut them down, and we did the best we’ve done with that.”

But Kishwaukee (7-8, 0-2) used that same strategy in the final 6:55 to make things close. Trailing 56-31, Chian Scott hit a 3-pointer, then Kayla Boyd scored on a pick-and-roll with Kira Klapprodt. Boyd’s putback a minute later made it 56-40, then Klapprodt dribbled around a screen and nailed a 3 to get within 56-43 with 3:43 remaining.

The Kougars’ full-court defense forced Sauk into eight fourth-quarter turnovers, and Klapprodt went coast-to-coast after a steal before Scott hit another 3 to make it a 10-point game, 58-48, with 1:44 to go.

“Just really going back to the basics,” Kishwaukee coach Krystal Gundy said of the late surge. “We focused on our defense, getting a defensive stop, then us coming down and physically running our offense, physically going inside and setting screens on people. It was just trying to get back to the basics, and for sure, it gives us something to build on.”

But the Skyhawks finally settled down and put the game away. Johnson hit a pair of free throws on Sauk’s next possession, then knocked down a wide-open 3 with 32 seconds left after some nifty passing by Hailey Walters and Kimmel.

“We were kind of rushing things … so we knew we needed to take a second, take a step back and relax, and work together as a team,” Johnson said. “I feel like we were definitely able to get our heads wrapped around the fact that we were going to be playing faster. But just working together, we were all talking on the court, ‘Just relax, just relax,’ and that seemed to work really well.”

“The key to that was not to give in to what they wanted,” Kimmel added. “They wanted us to speed up and make turnovers, and we’ve just got to calm down in those situations and play our game.”

Johnson led Sauk with 19 points and eight rebounds, and Kimmel stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Rachel Barrett had 12 points and two blocked shots, Savage (4 rebounds) and Hendrix (3 rebounds, 2 assists) both scored seven points, and Walters added five points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Nakiya Rascon chipped in three points and two assists for the Skyhawks, who notched their third win in the last six games.

Klapprodt had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for Kish, and Boyd had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. Scott scored 10 points – all in the second half – and also grabbed four rebounds, while Samantha Koper scored seven first-half points and added three rebounds and two assists. Stevenson finished with four points and a team-high eight rebounds, Heaven Johnson pulled down six boards, and Brooklyn Sellers grabbed four rebounds for the Kougars, who lost their third straight after a four-game win streak.

“We’ve been battling some injures; I just had one girl come back, she’s been in a boot. So practices haven’t been how we’ve been wanting,” Gundy said. “But that last quarter-and-a-half, that’s how we always play. That’s what we’ve been trying to do, but it’s going to take a minute to get back there.”