Just after the Lake Forest High School girls' basketball team tipped off against Carmel Monday in its second game of the Blue Devil Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament at Warren, Coach Nick Balaban "could start to see things getting better" despite the a 47-24 loss.
The Scouts began the tourney with an 0-11 record and finished 1-15 after picking up their first victory, a 34-32 win over Wheeling Wednesday, before closing with a 47-29 loss to Niles North in Thursday's tourney finale.
"It was the best holiday gift they could have given themselves," Balaban said of the victory over the Wildcats. "I couldn't have been more proud of them. They showed each other they can win."
The tournament began with a 57-20 loss to 12-4 Grayslake Central on Dec. 18.
"It was typical of how the whole season has been going for us," said Balaban about the string of lopsided losses his team had been suffering.
Then, the buildup to the first win of the season began to materialize against Carmel on Monday.
"We took a 2-0 lead. It was the first lead we've had in at least 10 games," said Balaban.
The Corsairs went on a 14-0 run in the first quarter, but Lake Forest played them even in the second period to stay in the game. "Our defense was better and our offense was starting to develop," said Balaban.
On Tuesday against Deerfield, Lake Forest jumped to a 7-2 lead before the Warriors took command of the game for a 51-26 victory.
"The defense and the offense were getting better," said Balaban. "They were covering for each other on defense and moving toward a common goal. They were running the offense with feel. They were cutting and screening very well."
After the Deerfield game, Balaban switched the team discussion from pure basketball to a philosophical message asking his players to look inside themselves and develop as people.
"I told them basketball is fleeting. For most of them basketball will be over after high school, but life goes on forever," said Balaban. "I told them they will find out what kind of people they are through adversity."
The message worked as Lake Forest grabbed a 13-8 first quarter lead against Wheeling and held a 19-15 halftime edge. With the game tied, 32-32, Allie Danneker put her team toward the end of the game, 34-32, and the Scouts defense denied Wheeling the rest of the way.
"That was a great shot," Balaban said of Danneker's game winner. "She was behind the basket and banked it in over two of them," he added referring to the Wildcats 6-foot Leah Malsom and 5-10 Kellie Kuzmanic.
Danneker, a 5-4 point guard who was filling in for unavailable starter Marina Katz, finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds.
"We found out what we can do regardless of who's here and who's not here. They needed to prove to themselves they could be in a game at the end. They banded together and stayed together," said Balaban.
The improvement continued against Niles North as the Vikings stormed to a 33-12 halftime lead. However, the Scouts found a way to keep shrinking the advantage throughout the second half including the use of a full-court press.
"Earlier in the year when we pressed the defense broke down and wasn't effective. Today against Niles North it was effective," said Balaban of the pressure that held the Vikings to 14 second-half points.
In addition to Danneker, Mackenzie Kenning and Adrienne Mocogni gave strong tournament performances. Mocogni, the Scouts' 5-8 senior captain whose season debuted Dec. 10 after recovering from a torn ACL sustained last year, had 16 points and 15 rebounds in four tourney games.
"She's become a presence for us on the court. She's shaken off a year and a half of not playing and is looking good," said Balaban.
Kenning, who popped in 26 points in the tournament, added 11 rebounds and six assists.
"We're ready for the stretch run," said Balaban as he looks toward the Scouts' next game at 7 p.m. Jan. 5 at North Suburban Conference foe Libertyville.
"We'll have a lot of practice to build on (the Wheeling win)," he added.
