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Sports

Girls Basketball: Joliet West Can't Catch Sandburg

Eagles' Kristen Bailey making big strides since returning from ACL surgery.

When Sandburg junior Kristen Bailey suffered a serious season-ending injury during the soccer season, all she could think about was returning for basketball.

That was her motivation after undergoing anterior cruciate ligament surgery on her right knee in June.

“I love basketball and just wanted to play,” Bailey said. “I knew I was going to miss the beginning of the season, but I really wanted to get back by December.”

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Bailey returned to the starting lineup Dec. 21 in a win over Lemont and has been progressing nicely every since. The 5-foot-10 forward came up big Tuesday to lead the Sandburg girls basketball team to a 39-26 Southwest Suburban Blue victory over host Joliet West.

“It’s been a day-to-day thing,” said Bailey, who plays with a brace. “I keep getting more and more back into it. My teammates have been helping me out and have been very supportive. I appreciate that a lot.”

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Bailey scored a game-high 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting and added five rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal in the win Tuesday.

“From Day 1, I’ve been pleased with what she’s been doing,” Sandburg coach Chris Hellrung said. “I think she’s been getting frustrated with herself just because she’s not the same player she was last year at this time. Coming off a major surgery, just to be back in six months is amazing. Today, she really took a big step forward in her comeback and looked like the old Kristen Bailey out there. That’s a credit to her hard work the last six months.”

The outcome of the game Tuesday was pretty much decided in the first quarter when the Eagles (8-11, 3-4 in the Blue) stormed out to an 11-1 advantage.

Joliet West (3-13, 1-6) didn’t make its first field goal until Khadija Cooley scored with 3:35 remaining in the second quarter to trim the Tigers’ deficit to 13-3.

“I feel like I’m saying the same thing after every game,” Joliet West coach Kevin Michaels said. “We seem to have one quarter that really hurts us. It’s been frustrating. I tell the girls all the time, that you are the ones that beat yourself. We went cold shooting tonight. The combination of cold shooting and one bad quarter is hurting us. We just give up easy points. It gets us every game. We’re not going to win many games when we do that.”

Joliet West was led by Monserrat Diaz (10 points, 4 rebounds), Cooley (5 points, 4 steals, 2 rebounds) and Aaliyah Stepney (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals).

Sandburg also received key help from Carly Katalinic (8 points, 2 rebounds), Ashley Yongwirth (7 points, 3 rebounds), Katie Winchel (6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals), Jen Pache (8 rebounds) and Johanna Curtis (6 rebounds).

Sandburg led 16-8 at halftime and the Tigers were within 20-14 with 4:41 left in the third quarter, but the Eagles closed the quarter on a 12-4 run to take a commanding 32-18 lead and led by at least 13 points the rest of the game.

Sandburg was playing at Joliet West for the second day in a row. The Eagles beat West Aurora 41-39 Monday in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Hoops in Joliet.

“We came out strong,” Hellrung said. “Then, we didn’t play as hard in the second quarter and they kind of snuck back into it. It was kind of a ragged game. We weren’t moving the ball around that well and consequently we weren’t getting great shots. The rims are pretty tight here, and we haven’t shot well here at all, so it’s going to be kind of nice to go back to our own gym on Thursday (against Lincoln-Way Central). ”

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