Thunder make Rams work for FVC Fox win

Woodstock North's Brittany Zieman (left) lays the ball up against Grayslake Central's Morgan Dahlstrom in the first quarter Saturday in Woodstock. Grayslake Central won, 44-41. (Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@shawmedia.com\)

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WOODSTOCK – Woodstock North coach Mike Lewis can pinpoint exactly when his team’s season turned around.

Since the Thunder’s two-point loss to Crystal Lake Central in mid-December, Lewis said his team has played with more effort and better execution, and it showed Saturday against Grayslake Central.

North battled the Rams down to the wire, giving Grayslake Central its toughest conference test of the season. But North couldn’t hold a three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter and lost, 44-41, in a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division matchup.

“We thought coming in we had a really good chance, playing at home,” Lewis said. “This is the best competition in our conference, and we’re one shot away.”

Coming off of three consecutive double-digit conference victories, Grayslake Central (16-3 overall, 6-0 FVC) struggled to pull away from North (11-9, 2-4) as neither team held a lead of more than seven points.

Grayslake Central had trouble with North’s 2-3 zone, making only 13 field goals. Senior guard Skyler Jessop was 4 of 14 from the field and the Thunder forced 17 turnovers against the normally sure-handed Rams.

North exhibited patience on the offensive end, and senior point guard Haylee Nutter’s penetration allowed others to get open looks. Her steal and uncontested layup put the Thunder up two early in the third quarter, and Emma Everly followed with a three-pointer that gave North a 24-19 cushion.

“We just wanted to take good shots and have good possessions,” Lewis said. “We couldn’t get out of our element; make sure to take good shots and play good defense.”

Sami Ahr’s runner, plus a free throw, gave North a 36-33 lead with 3:20 to go in the fourth, but Grayslake Central took control from there. Claire Brennan’s steal led to a layup, and she followed it with another steal, tying the score on a free throw. Jessop was fouled on the Rams’ next possession and made two free throws to give Grayslake Central the lead for good. The Rams made 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute to ice the game.

“It hurts to lose by a basket and everything, but we’re always the underdogs and we want to come out and show people we’re not,” Nutter said. “We should be winning a lot more games.”

Jessop finished with 15 points to lead all scorers. Ahr had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead the Thunder.

Even with the loss, Lewis was encouraged by North’s progress and said it was another step forward for his program.

“We’re moving in the right direction, we really are,” Lewis said. “This would have been a fantastic win for anybody in this conference.”