As a sophomore and junior, Sydni Tears was a runaway scoring leader for Richards.
That hasn’t changed as a senior. Tears is averaging 20 points — which is exactly what the 5-foot-9 forward scored for the Bulldogs in Tuesday’s 62-53 South Suburban Red victory over host Eisenhower.
But this season, Tears doesn’t always have to do it all. After the win, it brought a smile to her face when she was told senior teammate Takesha Powell put up 23 points.
“That’s real fun to have somebody else who can score and be just as powerful as you can,” Tears said. “We have some good chemistry.”
It has made for a successful season for the Bulldogs (12-4, 5-3), who are still in the hunt for the conference title with Reavis and Argo.
Eisenhower (3-13, 1-7) was paced by Jada Wiggins (29 points) and Imagine Dempsey (12 points, 8 rebounds).
While Powell averages 12 points, she also gives the Bulldogs a boost with five assists per game. But her biggest contributions against Eisenhower were from the arc.
She hit for three 3-pointers in the second quarter to help Richards rally from as much as a 29-22 deficit. She nailed two more in the third quarter as the Bulldogs took control.
“It’s my teammates,” Powell said. “They feed me the ball a lot, they have a lot of faith in me. We try to get everybody involved as much as we can. They find me and if it’s there, it’s there.
“I’ve worked on my 3-point shooting all summer and put in a lot of work after practices, just me shooting. It’s pretty much paying off.”
The Powell-Tears connection produced a pair of sparkling third-quarter plays in which Powell found Tears for a layup and Tears fired a beauty of a pass over two defenders that Powell turned into a 3-pointer.
“She’s not afraid to shoot. She gets after it,” Richards coach Jeff Kortz said of Powell. “It’s all about confidence with her. When she plays well and gets us into offense and passes the ball and shoots like she can, we play pretty well.”
Eisenhower stayed with Richards early, primarily due to deadeye shooting by Wiggins. The senior guard was 8-for-10 in producing 21 points in the first half.
“She can do that on any given night,” Eisenhower coach Terrence Streater said of Wiggins, who averages 14 points. “She is kind of everything for us, a point guard, a go inside (player) …. she can do it all.
“This is my third year here and I can say she’s awesome. Good grades, good attitude on and off the court, great practice player. She’s everything a high school coach could want.”
Wiggins burned Richards to the point where the Bulldogs abandoned their zone defense and went man-to-man. Wiggins sank just one more 3-pointer the rest of the way, but still managed eight second-half points.
“They kind of double-teamed her a little bit, but she was smart about it,” Streater said. “She went to the basket and got herself to the free-throw line.”
Hillcrest 65, T.F. South 53: Joshulyn Shepard poured in 27 points for Hillcrest (13-6, 8-0 SSC Blue).
Lincoln-Way East 54, Lockport 36: Claire McMahon’s 16 points guided East (16-5, 5-2 SWSC Blue).
Argo 85, Shepard 36: Chatori Tyler contributed 29 points and 14 rebounds for Argo (13-7, 6-2 SSC Red).
Lincoln-Way North 91, Thornton 54: Lanie Hicks (26 points) powered North (18-2, 7-0 SWSC Red).
Queen of Peace 47, Rosary 34: Kara Shimko registered 19 points for Peace (17-7, 6-2 GCAC White).
Homewood-Flossmoor 70, Sandburg 30: Tylah Lampley (13 points, 5 rebounds) lifted H-F (13-3, 7-0 SWSC Blue).
Loyola 50, Mother McAuley 45: Tara O’Malley (14 points) starred for McAuley (12-9, 3-4 GCAC Red).
Evergreen Park 47, Oak Lawn 37: Maddie Vojacek and Samariah Jones-Tinsley (11 points each) boosted Evergreen (10-11, 3-5 SSC Red).
Bolingbrook 66, Stagg 38: Jaime Ryan had 14 points for Stagg (2-17, 1-6 SWSC Blue).
Illinois Lutheran 37, Manhattan Community Christian 29: Hannah Hinz (12 points) paced Illinois Lutheran (3-13).
Bradley-Bourbonnais 58, Thornwood 34: Breneka Walker had 11 points for Thornwood (5-13, 2-5 SWSC Red).
Latin 70, Morgan Park Academy 43: Gabby Ogbevire (15 points) led MPA (11-4, 2-2 ISL).
Boys Basketball
Joliet Catholic 67, Lincoln-Way Central 55: Jalen Jackson and Luke Mander each scored 23 points as Joliet Catholic (14-2) took its 10th straight win.
St. Laurence 55, Reavis 42: Christian Ferrer scored 15 points for St. Laurence (7-10).
Oak Forest 54, Ag. Science 39: Daylon Pienkowski netted 19 points for Oak Forest (12-6).
Hillcrest 45, Rich South 42: Marcus Garrett (25 points) lifted Hillcrest (13-4).
Hales 70, De La Salle 57: Christian Hayes put in 17 points for De La Salle (12-5).
St. Francis 53, Providence 41: Mike Drew (9 points) led Providence (4-15).
Dwight 76, Beecher 52: Jarod Stolzenbach and Jack Ranger provided 14 points each for Beecher (9-8).
Men’s Basketball
Moraine Valley 73, Waubonsee 67: Ermias Nega (22 points) propelled Moraine (7-11, 2-2 Illinois Skyway).
Awards
Kennedy honored: St. Francis’ Jens Kennedy was named CCAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Tuesday.
SXU, USF softball ranked: St. Xavier is 10th and St. Francis No. 25 in the NAIA Softball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll.
Twitter: @tbaranek
Freelance writer Josh Krockey contributed to this story.
