Local Sports Notebook

Great in State: Several Area Girls at EIU This Weekend

Class 2A Lincoln-Way West qualified in six events to lead the area, while Providence and Lincoln-Way Central will look to mount a run in Class 3A.

Providence’s 4x400 relay team is at O’Brien Stadium in Charleston this weekend for the IHSA Class 3A girls state track and field championships. Also representing the Celtics are Lindsay Smoljan (pole vault) and Mandy Coglianese (300 hurdles). Lincoln-Way Central has a pair of standouts competing this weekend as Bri Tomnitz advanced in the high jump and Alena Pacheco will run the 3,200. On the Class 2A side, it should be a great finish for Lincoln-Way West seniors Sara Losacco and Monica Hahn as the duo both will compete in a pair of events. Losacco is among the state’s elite in the pole vault and 400 dash, while Hahn will give it her best shot in the 1,600 and 3,200. Also representing the Warriors this weekend will be Abby Hedlin (high …

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Analysis: L-Way West Girls Drop the Ball on Road

Warriors snowballed in early going of 53-50 setback at Thornwood on Monday.

In December, Lincoln-Way West easily defeated Thornwood 40-28 in a Southwest Suburban Red girls basketball game, and the Warriors were without standout senior Kaitlyn Ray. So, it was a given they would defeat Thornwood in the rematch with Ray in the lineup, right? Wrong. The Warriors never were in sync in a 53-50 setback on Monday night as they watched Thornwood’s youthful team start strong and open up a lead that stretched to as much as 38-28 in the third quarter. Lincoln-Way West staged a furious comeback fourth-quarter comeback behind a ferocious full-court press led by Sara Losacco. But the Warriors short as time expired. They actually forged their only tie of the game at 40-all on a 3-pointer by Ray (12 points) with 5:30 left and …

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Girls Basketball: L-Way West Suffers Pre-Blizzard Meltdown

Thornwood 53, Lincoln-Way West 50. The Warriors trailed from the get-go in heart-breaking Southwest Suburban Red setback.

The Hot Read: The Lincoln Way West girls  basketball team dropped a heart-breaking 53-50 decision to Thornwood Monday in South Holland. The Warriors trailed from the opening tip and never led and were tied only once at 40-40 on a Kaitlyn Ray three-pointer with 5:30 remaining. Patch’s MVP: Sara Losacco, who scored 13 points, added six rebounds and five steals. Lincoln-Way West Leaders: Sam Villa (13 points, 15 rebounds), Kaitlyn Ray (12 points, 4 three-pointers),  Nikki Sieger (8 points).  Quotable: West coach Ryan White “We never got our intensity on defense that we need to be successful. I don’t know if we were looking ahead to the next game (vs. Lincoln-Way North) or what. Either way, I am the head coach, so it’s on me." Team Records: …

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Girls Basketball Feature: Losacco Rates as L-Way West's Unsung Hero

Sara Lasacco and Sam Villa get defensive in Lincoln-Way West's 43-27 victory over Bradley-Bourbonnais on Thursday night, while Kaitlyn Ray provides the offense.

While Kaitlyn Ray and Sam Villa steal the headlines for Lincoln-Way West's girls basketball team, it’s usually the play of pint-sized senior Sara Losacco that determines the success or failure for the Warriors. Losacco, who is West's starting point guard, is generously listed at 5-5, but her play and contributions are anything but small. “Sara makes us go with her hustle, and it seems everybody feeds off her play,” Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan White said. In Thursday's game against Southwest Suburban Red rival Bradley-Bourbonnais, Losacco finished with her typical line in the box score: six points, four rebounds, five steals and five assists. Her all-around play helped West notch a 43-27 victory. Losacco also harassed Bradley's guards all …

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Girls Basketball: Lincoln-Way West Rallies, Wins at Stagg

Lincoln-Way West 58, Stagg 49. Samantha Villa's 24 points and 18 rebounds almost aren't enough after Warriors waste a nine-point halftime lead.

The Hot Read: Lincoln-Way West lets a nine-point halftime lead slip away in the third quarter. Stagg outscores West 19-7 in the quarter. Senior Kaitlyn Ray nailed a three-pointer from the corner to give the Warriors a 48-47 lead with 4:30 left. The Warriors hold the lead with a 10-2 run to finish, avoiding a conference upset.  Patch’s MVP: Warriors sophomore Samantha Villa dominated on the glass and on the scoreboard with 24 points and 18 rebounds. She scored 18 points in the first half. She struggled shooting in the second half, but remained a presence in the post that Stagg had to contend with.  Key Stats: The Warriors' aggressive play put them at the free throw line often. West went 19-of-28 from the line. The Chargers, by contrast, …

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Lincoln-Way West Rallies to Beat Pesky Thornton

Warriors' Sara Losacco steps up in absence of leading scorer Kaitlyn Ray.

Lincoln-Way West senior Sara Losacco is known for being a hard-nosed player willing to do anything to help her girls basketball team win. The 5-foot-5 guard certainly demonstrated that Tuesday, but her scoring ability has taken on added significance with the injury to leading scorer Kaitlyn Ray, who is out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Losacco scored a game-high 20 points to help Lincoln-Way West rally for a 40-36 Southwest Suburban Conference Red victory over Thornton Tuesday night in New Lenox. “With (Kaitlyn) Ray out, somebody had to step up,” Losacco said. “I tried to do that. I think we’re going to have somebody different step up every night.” The Warriors (14-2) were playing their second game without Ray, who is averaging …

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LW East Shuts Down LW West at the Medieval Classic

Defense of Kelly McGovern and Taylor Johnson sparks Griffins in rivalry-game victory over Warriors.

Lincoln-Way East girls basketball coach Jim Martin had a two-fold plan Tuesday night that the Griffins used in a 47-28 victory in a pivotal pool-play game of the Medieval Classic against district rival Lincoln-Way West. The plan was to first use his two outstanding guards--Taylor Johnson, a 5-6 junior, and  Kelly McGovern, a 5-7 senior,  to shadow West standout senior guard and outside shooting threat Kaitlyn Ray. The idea was to stop Ray and make the rest of the Warriors beat East. “Our game plan was to shadow Ray with our two best defenders, and they did exactly what we asked of them,” Martin said. The second part of Martin's plan was to involve his rapidly improving 6-1 junior center Caitlin McMahon in the offense due to her significant…

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Warriors Use Good First Half to Defeat Bengals

Lincoln-Way West's girls basketball team jumps out to 36-19 halftime lead in win over Plainfield East.

After his team went a week without playing a game, Lincoln-Way West girls basketball coach Ryan White was concerned about how the Warriors would respond on Tuesday. But if there were any fears that they'd be sluggish in their nonconference home game against Plainfield East, those were put to rest early on. Lincoln-Way West scored 18 points in both the first and second quarters and jumped out to a 36-19 halftime advantage over the Bengals. While Plainfield East continued to battle and managed to get back to within single digits following the break, the rough start was simply too much to overcome. The Warriors added only 13 points to their total during the final 16 minutes, but that was sufficient to help them record a 49-38 win in New Lenox…

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Lincoln-Way West Hungry for Another Strong Season

Warriors aiming for more after reaching a sectional final last year

In its maiden season one year ago, the girls' basketball team from Lincoln-Way West went 19-10, won a Christmas tournament and won a regional title before bowing out in a Class 3A sectional title game. Which means there should be a fire in the belly of a team returning all of its players from last year's junior-rich roster. "Hopefully that taste of success motivates them," Warriors coach Ryan White said. "We set four goals last year–winning a Thanksgiving and Christmas tournament, winning conference and winning a regional, and we got two out of four. "I think the (sectional) loss to Metamora left a bad taste in their mouths, and I hope they feel like they can go out and compete with anybody." White expects to put another competitive squad …

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