Streaks win physical battle

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Before Monday’s IHSA Class 3A regional quarterfinal against Marian Central, Woodstock guard senior guard Sharon Mwale learned she would be called on to fill the void in the absence of the regular starter, Chrissy Velasquez.

“Before the game I had a list of goals, and scoring eight points a quarter was one of them,” Mwale said, “I kept that goal in my head the whole game, to keep scoring.”

With Velasquez sidelined with a left thumb injury, Mwale shined as her stand-in, scoring all seven of the Blue Streaks’ (10-17) points in the first quarter, one short of her goal.

The senior guard led all scorers with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Streaks,’ 44-21, win against the Hurricanes (3-23).

“A lot of girls are getting opportunities to play heavy minutes,” Woodstock coach Marty Hammond said. “If they continue to keep battling and bringing the energy level up, then they will keep getting minutes.”

The two teams played a physical game and committed a combined 52 turnovers.

The physical play was highlighted by a moment in the second quarter when Woodstock junior guard Odie Peters had to come out because of a bloodstain on the back of her jersey.

Peters changed jerseys behind the Woodstock bench, which resulted in a team technical foul, but the junior returned to the game with a different jersey two minutes later and scored on her first possession back.

“It was pretty rough out there and I was pretty frustrated with how physical it was getting,” said Peters, who scored 4 points in the win.“I fought through it and used the frustration to push the ball on offense and play better defense.”

After leading 20-14 at halftime, the Blue Streaks started the third quarter with a 16-2 run and held the Hurricanes to only seven points in the second half including a scoreless fourth quarter.

Woodstock will face host Prairie Ridge at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the regional
semifinal.

“They manhandled us in the previous two games, but we are not going to back down and we are going to step to the challenge and hopefully come away with a win,” Hammond said.

Tess Haddick led Marian Central with nine points.