Lily Kozenko can only drive on the hardwood, but that’s going to change soon.
It wasn’t the Plano sophomore’s driving, but rather her shot that ultimately sealed the Reapers’ 50-41 victory at Sandwich during Tuesday’s Kishwaukee River Conference game.
Kozenko buried a 3 from the corner with 4:38 remaining to boost Plano’s lead to 45-37.
“The shot felt good, it felt exciting,” she said. “Niya (Viser) helped a lot. All of the team helped. It was a team effort and we beat Sandwich, so that’s a win overall.”
Then no one scored for the next three minutes.
Finally, Sandwich junior Alayla Harris muscled up a basket inside with 1:36 to go to cut Plano’s lead to 45-39. A free throw from senior Bailey Frieders reduced it 45-40, but that’s as close as Sandwich would get.
“We made a good adjustment going into a 2-3 (zone),” Sandwich coach Ray Napientek said. “The girls were getting a little bit tired, and we don’t have a ton of depth. We went there trying to steal some passes, and we did, we just didn’t make enough shots.”
She may be too young to drive a car, but driving on the court, Kozenko appeared to have the game in cruise control.
“Hey, I’m getting my license soon,” she said with a laugh. “We just had to work as a team and have the effort and have fun. At halftime, it was ‘keep your head up, you got this.’ ”
Kozenko scored nine points.
“Lily was amazing tonight,” Plano coach Tristan Spivey said. “I told her to drive it, take it to the basket, and she was getting hers and hit a big 3 and made some free throws.”
Plano (12-10, 4-3) only led 28-26 at the half. The Reapers beat the Indians by 30 points when they played Dec. 2.
“The first time they competed with us, and they’re our rival, so they always play really hard against us,” Spivey said. “And you can tell they’re being well coached. They’re playing hard. The first game the difference was we made seven 3s in the third quarter, and it’s going to be hard to guard us when we’re doing that, so we took off and left them, but this one, we knew it would be competitive.”
Sandwich (9-14, 1-7) led 13-9 after one quarter.
“You always know it’s going to be a battle at Sandwich,” Spivey said. “And they’ve been competing with every team they’re playing in conference, and the (Alayla) Harris (14 points, 13 rebounds) girl has been playing phenomenal, so we knew she was going to be an issue.”
Before Kozenko’s big shot, Viser was getting it done on both ends to help Plano somewhat pull away.
Her steal and lay-in in the opening minute of the second half made it 30-26. She’d get to the basket again for a basket less than a minute later.
Then, after Kozenko took a charge, giving Sandwich sophomore Khloe White her third foul in the process, Viser made a great pass to senior Jadyn Long for a pretty two points and a 34-28 lead.
“I was just moving my feet around, anticipating the passes and all that,” Viser said. “I just knew she was there. I saw (Long), and I was just helping her to make it, and I knew I made a play for her.”
Viser made 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute.
“They step up,” Spivey said, “and they handle the ball.”
Plano is used to tight games even though this didn’t add to their seven games, including two with OT, that have been decided by five points or less. They are 3-4 in such games.
“We’ve been in those games all year, it seems, and we’re finding ways to win those,” Spivey said. “I hope the girls keep it rolling. That’s five in a row now. I’m really proud of them.”
Viser scored nine points, junior Cami Nunez had 11 points, and senior Jadyn Long led the Reapers with 12, getting half of them on back-to-back treys to open the second quarter and allow the Reapers to pull ahead 15-13.
Plano junior Chloe Rowe made the only two shots she took, scoring four points, yet also seemingly did a bit of everything, grabbing three rebounds, dishing five assists, blocking three shots and making seven steals.
Despite Plano’s full-team effort, Sandwich was only a couple possessions away from tying the game until the final minute.
“The girls played well,” Napientek said. “There were some unforced turnovers, so we needed to take care of the ball. You’ve got to handle the basketball, shoot the basketball and play defense, and the girls played well. Plano was prepared, and they do a nice job, and they’re well coached. They hit some shots at the end, and we just couldn’t catch them.”
Sandwich senior Kayden Corneils fought through an ankle injury, scoring 12 points to join Harris in double figures. White had seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and five steals.
“Khloe played really well,” Napientek said. “She’s a sophomore and is still learning and handling the basketball. She’ll be a big part of things. Kayden Corneils is a big scorer, and she did well tonight, and (Alayla) Harris gets big down there. She had a double-double. She’s big down there for our scoring. And Bailey Frieders (five points), she struggled a little bit tonight, but she’s a big part of our senior class, and they all played well.”