Girls Basketball: T.F. North dusts off Tinley Park
By Tony Baranek tbaranek@southtownstar.com January 18, 2012 9:58PM
Tinley Park's Tia Clayton (left) and T.F. North's Schenia Battle fight for a rebund. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: February 21, 2012 8:26AM
The early burst of energy that T.F. North hit host Tinley Park with at the start of Wednesday’s 61-40 South Suburban Blue victory wasn’t exactly unexpected.
“We prepared for them to hit us early,” Tinley Park coach Jason Becker said. “We couldn’t handle it.”
Nobody has so far during the conference season. The Meteors, 11-8 overall, are 8-0 in the Blue. A showdown against Hillcrest looms Jan. 26.
“Hillcrest is the team that has been blowing people out,” North senior Sabrina Montgomery said. “We want to show that we can take conference. I think it’s going to be a good game.”
Montgomery, a 6-foot-1 center, was a dominator underneath against Tinley Park, scoring 16 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.
Sharee Greenlee added 18 points, Schenia Battle 13 points and nine rebounds and Chardae Greenlee 10 rebounds for North.
Simona Sidaugaite and Diamond Beatty had 12 points each for the Titans (10-12, 6-3).
The early salvo came in the form of an 11-0 run, started by two free throws by Montgomery and a three-pointer by Sharee Greenlee.
With Chardae Greenlee limiting Tinley’s top scorer, Beatty, to just four points in the first half, Sidaugaite stepped up for the Titans in the second period, hitting a pair of threes to get them as close as 26-19.
North would go on to score the final 10 points of the period, however, and stayed comfortably in front the rest of the way.
It was the Meteors’ first game since coach Tim Zasada announced he would be leaving T.F. North at the end of the school year to teach and coach football at Reavis.
“We just decided we’re going to work hard and go out with a bang at the end to make him happy before he leaves,” Sharee Greenlee said.
Zasada was ... well, Zasada, animated and exuberant as ever from the bench.
“Man, when it’s time for girls basketball, it’s time for girls basketball,” he said. “I promised our girls they would not be shortchanged during this whole process. They still rely on my energy and preparation, and we’re going to have some fun.”
Comments Click here to view or make a comment