Ice water in her veins
Smith free throws take Lemont past Lockport
By Randy Whalen
special to the herald newsROMEOVILLE — Denzel Washington has nothing on the Lemont High School girls basketball team.
Washington's new movie, Deja Vu, opens next week.
Well, Thursday night, Lemont experienced deja vu of its own, but in a good way.
Indians senior point guard Lisa Smith hit 2 free throws and came up with a big steal in the final minute as Lemont edged Lockport 43-41 in an opening round game of the Romeoville Thanksgiving Tournament.
It is the fifth year in a row that Lemont (2-0) has squeaked by the Porters (0-1) in an opening round game at the tournament.
Last year, Lemont won 35-33 on Alyssa Sandoval's layup with 4 seconds to play. In 2004, the Indians won 46-45 on Renet Skorusa's basket with 3 seconds remaining.
"Five years in a row," said Lemont coach Bill Bozue, almost in disbelief. "We've been fortunate at the end of the game to put ourselves in position to win. We've come up with some big plays or stops."
Thursday night's big stop came in the final seconds.
Smith hit a free throw with 41.9 seconds left to put the Indians ahead for good at 42-41. Lockport worked for the last shot, but Smith intercepted a pass in the lane with 7 seconds to go.
She was fouled and then hit another free throw with just 1.4 seconds to play for the final margin of victory. The Porters failed to get off a last-ditch shot.
"It's been the same thing against them the last couple of years, and it's been very exciting," said Smith, who finished with 8 points, all in the second half. "In the end, it all came down to playing smart and playing for your team.
"I had started out slow (0-for-2 from line in first half), but in the end I knew I had to do it for our team."
"Lisa came through," Bozue said. "As a senior, she put herself in that position. I have faith in her and she just needed to do it."
Lockport took its final lead at 39-38 on a 16-footer by junior guard Kailey Hunter with 2:49 remaining.
Indians senior forward Ashley Skowronski, who had a game-high 15 points and added 6 rebounds, hit a free throw and Smith sank 2 shots from the line to put Lemont ahead 41-39 with 1:52 left.
Guard Christine Karl, who is Lockport's only senior starter, scored on a 7-foot runner in the lane following an offensive rebound to tie the game at
41-41 with 1:34 left. Karl led the Porters with 12 points and added 7 rebounds.
Lemont's 12 fourth-quarter points all came from the free throw line. The Indians were 12-of-17 from the line in the final quarter and 20-of-32 on free throws for the game. Senior guard Lauren Panek added 9 points for Lemont.
Lockport hit all 5 of its shots in an 11-4 first-quarter burst to take the game's largest lead at 12-4. The Porters led 12-11 after one quarter. Lemont then used a 7-point run to grab its largest lead at 21-15 midway through the second quarter.
The Indians led 25-21 at halftime and the game was tied 31-31 after 3 quarters.
Junior Regina Dentzman came off the bench to grab 7 rebounds for Lemont. The Porters got a game-high 13 rebounds from junior center Kaitlyn Sullivan and junior forward Nikki Mata scored 11 points for Lockport before fouling out with 5:03 to play.
The Porters were 6-of-9 from the line in the game and attempted no fourth-quarter free throws.
"Every time it comes down to the wire," Lockport coach Krista Peterson said. "But they got the ball inside, and we didn't keep our composure.
"We put them on the line. I was happy with our aggression, but we have to be a little more smarter. It was a good opener for us. We just have to learn how to finish."
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