The girls varsity basketball team entered their game on Tuesday, Feb. 4 with 10 wins and 16 losses. They exited that night’s game adding a win to their record with a victory over the Joliet West Tigers, 70-63.

Up until Tuesday night, the Tigers bolstered a 4-20 record, with the last meeting between the two teams seeing the Cougars scrape a competitive 54-50 victory.
The game began with a strong start from South’s junior La’niya Willis, point guard, who scored 4 points within the first minute. The Cougars carried this momentum throughout the first quarter and held a 13-6 lead halfway through it.
The quick success did not come without resistance from the Tigers, who responded by scoring 11 more points including two three-point shots throughout the rest of the quarter. But senior Tierra Abner, shooting guard, scored 4 points within the last 40 seconds of the quarter to give South a 5-point lead 22-17.
Joliet West came out the gate in the second quarter quickly, hitting two three-pointers and capturing their first lead of the game. But sophomore Zahira Edwards quickly recaptured said lead for South with a 2-point shot. 

The rest of the quarter was filled with both teams going back and forth with the lead. Junior Layla Lesure, center, managed to score 3 quick points in South’s favor. But, after multiple fouls by South, Joliet West’s effectiveness at the free-throw line boosted them to recapture the lead at 38-37 before heading into the half.
Once again Joliet West dominated the start of a quarter. They managed to capture the largest lead of the game, 11 points, around midway through the third quarter. There was only one point scored within the last two minutes of the third from a South free-throw, cutting their deficit to 10. The score stood at 51-41 in favor of Joliet West.
The Cougars were down big going into the final quarter, and players like Willis grew frustrated.
“I kinda started getting in my head a little bit,” said Willis after the game, “Then I had a talk with my coach, I had a talk with my teammates, they kept me up and pushing. They told me to let it go, restart.”
Willis, Abner, and senior Fathia Olagunju, power forward, were South’s first scorers of the quarter. But, whenever South scored, Joliet answered right back. It seemed like South couldn’t pull away.
A shift in momentum happened when Willis started playing with increased energy and physicality, scoring multiple times to cut into West’s lead. Despite West’s response, Zahira Edwards was able to score 3 points which tied the game up. Abner went on to score 4 more points, officially giving the Cougars the lead back.
In the final moments of the game, South’s sophomore Carly Mcdonald was fouled while scoring a clutch layup. She stepped up to the free-throw line and scored, giving the Cougars a 7-point lead and effectively sealing the game.
Before the win, the team was coming off of a slump, losing 5 games in a row, until they snatched a win against Romeoville at the end of January.
“We went through a rough stretch before Romeoville,” said Plainfield South coach Alana Warren before Tuesday’s game. “I think we have brung a lot of positivity to finish out the season strong.”
Despite the struggles throughout the Cougars’ season, Coach Warren remained optimistic about how they could finish out the rest of their campaign.
“This group has fought through a rough patch in the middle of the season,” Coach Warren said. “They have good team chemistry, we got two senior leaders that [want to] end on a good note and the rest are juniors that want to leave the seniors with some positivity.”
Plainfield South’s comeback reinforced Coach Warren’s words. The team’s chemistry and leadership guided them and La’niya Willis recognized the importance of this game.
“I feel like it is something we need to look back on and remember this moment for the rest of the season,” said Willis, “Our team chemistry, when we work together we get stuff done. As long as we remember this and keep this in mind, we will finish out the season great.”
With two games left, if the Cougars manage to finish the season on a high note, Wednesday’s game may have been the spark that ignited the flame.