Wheaton Girls Earn 6th Victory of Season.

On Thursday Wheaton High School hosted a rare Public vs Private school basketball game against the Lions of the Charles E Smith Jewish Day School. The Lady Knights coasted to a 46-28 win. This marks the best season the girls have had in nearly 4 years.  The Knights got off to a fast start with a 7-1 lead.  Poor shooting which has plagued the Knights all season, allowed CESJDS to rally before the end of the first quarter, bringing the Lions to within one, 7-6.   Both teams began the game with diverse tactics.  Wheaton played a more methodical game working the ball up court and trying to score from the outside.  The Lions, lead by Senior Elana Handlemen and Yaira Kalender, is a smaller faster unit, which moved with quick hitting passes and often went for the long breakaways down court often feeding Lions Forward Jill Griminger.  The strategy could have won, however the Lions had shooting problems of their own.  It didn't help that some of the CESJDS team were missing from their lineup. 

Wheaton Junior Ameera Gray had had her best game of the season with 14 points.  More importantly Ameera's presence defensively helped keep the Lions in check throughout the game.  The Knights mantained a one point lead at the half but broke the game open in the second half.   The Knights began to press the Lions and create turnovers especially in the 3rd period.   Three straight turnovers in their own back court rattled the Lions and game seemed well in hand for the Knights.  Wheaton Junior Brittainy Briffiths and Freshman Chynna Smith each had 8 rebounds. The victory was all the sweeter since it was the third game for Wheaton in four days.  The win puts the Lady Knights at 6-11 on the season. The Knights enter a tough three game stretch to finish out the season.  They next host the Wildcats of Walter Johnson (15-5) at 5:15pm on Tuesday, February 12th.  After that they face Blair (Feb 14) on the road and wrap up with rival Kennedy (Feb 19) at home before the playoffs commence.