Yorktown girls’ basketball (1-0) kicked off its 2024-25 season with a home contest against Guerin Catholic (1-1) Tuesday evening. Yorktown battled in front of its home crowd and sent their supporters home happy with a 64-53 victory.
The Tigers dominated from the opening tip and got out to a quick start. Guerin Catholic head coach Danielle Cardinal called an early timeout after Yorktown jumped out to a 17-4 lead with 3:22 left in the first quarter.
The remaining time in the first quarter was all Yorktown. The stifling defense and quick pace of play pushed the Tigers to a 19-8 lead after one quarter. Guerin Catholic was unable to take care of the ball on offense leading to a plentiful number of transition points for Yorktown.
Junior Lilly Sylvester led on the court for Yorktown with senior Claire Hazen out due to IHSAA practice regulations. Hazen was a key player on the state runner-up volleyball team which ended its season Saturday, Nov. 8 at Worthen Arena. According to IHSAA rules, Hazen will be eligible to return after five consecutive practices.
The second quarter was led by Yorktown again. The Tigers outscored Guerin Catholic 20 to 12 in the second quarter, largely in part to sophomore Alexis Field’s performance. Fields – who was fourth in points scored last season – led the Tigers on the offensive side. She controlled the paint with 13 rebounds and two blocks. She also led the team in scoring with 23 points.
Sophomore Olivia Conklin and Sylvester followed with 14 of their own. Sylvester was the leading scorer last season for Yorktown. She averaged 14.5 points per game and scored a team-high 348 points. Conklin was third on the team in points and made an impact as a freshman last winter scoring 115 total points.
Sylvester picked up right where she left off last season. She shot 33 percent from beyond the three-point line and was 100 percent from the charity stripe. She also led the team with 12 rebounds and tallied two steals.
The second half was all in favor of Yorktown. The Tigers led 47-31 after the third quarter. Guerin Catholic settled into a full-court trap on defense that rattled Yorktown for some time in the second half. The Tigers struggled to get the ball across the timeline which led to a handful of turnovers, but the defense was strong enough to hold onto the lead.
Guerin Catholic’s defense showed a two-three zone in the fourth quarter to halt the shooting clinic put on by Yorktown’s offense. The zone did its job for some possessions until Tigers’ head coach Leigh Ann Barga called a timeout to instill the press-breaker in her offense.
The fast-paced offense and aggressive defense led the way for Yorktown tonight and fans should expect to see more of the same from Barga and her team. The Tigers have been known for their aggressive style of play and it propelled them tonight against Guerin Catholic.
The Tigers will travel to Northeastern Nov. 14 to take on the Knights with an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor.
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