On a chilly night in Niles, Friday, Feb. 7, the New Trier Girls Basketball team dominated Niles West en route to a 61-35 victory.
“We extended our lead going into the second half but in the third quarter we were a little nervous,” said junior guard Kathryn Pedi. “The last time we played them we didn’t have a great third quarter, and we let them back in the game.”
Pedi believes the third quarter success was sparked by the energy provided from the bench. Junior guard Maggie Klein is already looking forward to the big games coming up in March.
“This was a good team, but in comparison to our other competition, it wasn’t the fiercest team,” said Klein. “So we got a lot of fundamental work which will help us in the playoffs.”
Pedi also views their last game as an opportunity to get ready for regionals.
“We’re really excited because this was great practice for us because we are playing regionals at Niles West, so we got used to playing in the gym.”
Senior guard Jackie Welch, a three year varsity player, scored 10 points of her 14 in the first quarter. She led the team on a 14-0 run to start the game. From there, the Trevians cruised through the first half and well into the third quarter, where Pedi added 7 more points to finish off the Wolves.
With Friday’s game under their belt, the team has started to prepare for the more challenging games ahead, including their game against Glenbrook South (GBS) on Friday, Feb. 13.
While neither team had a big night offensively, Welch again sparked the Trevians, leading them with 14 points going four of seven from beyond the arc, going three for three in the first quarter. That, along with two threes from junior Haley Greer, put New Trier ahead 17-10 after the opening period.
GBS would storm back as New Trier started turning the ball over, and they finished the half on a 16-3 run, and a 29-28 lead.
In the second half, the Trevians cut down their turnovers as they only had two in the third quarter and five in the second half. A 9-3 run put New Trier back on top for good at 37-32. They got a three from Welch, layups from Jeannie Boehm and Greer and a pair of foul shots from Pedi.
The Trevians took a 41-37 lead into the fourth quarter and ultimately began to milk the clock. Welch scored the only field goal of the quarter getting inside for a layup with 1:20 left to make it 43-38, and Pedi iced the game with a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining. There were just five points scored the entire quarter.
The 45-38 win capped a sterling regular season for the Trevs, and with a 25-1 overall record and a perfect 10-0 record in the Central Suburban League Conference. After wining the conference title, the Trevs will be the top seed in their sectional. And it’s clear that Rodgers and her team know what it takes to be prepared for the postseason.
“Our strategy is to sharpen the basics and go back to the fundamentals as we get farther along in the playoffs we’ll play teams that we have an equal talent level with,” said Klein.
Rodgers echoed her player’s thoughts in an interview with CSL Insider.
“You need to be ready to play physically, mentally and emotionally,” Rodgers said. “And emotionally is where I was very impressed with our resolve. Again, not everything went our way but we didn’t get down on ourselves and you need to just be able to not change how you play when that happens.”