Lincoln-Way East junior Maddie Yacobozzi almost always gets the assignment to guard the opponent’s best player.
She likes that. But it really doesn’t matter.
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“I’ll be where coach (Jim Nair) needs me,” Yacobozzi said. “I’ll guard whoever coach needs me to. I’ll be ready.”
Nair calls the 5-foot-10 guard their “lockdown defender” for the Griffins.
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In Wednesday’s championship game of the Sandburg Holiday Classic, Yacobozzi lived up to that billing, holding 3-point ace Josie Canellis to five points in the second half.
Yacobozzi also has another skill. She performs under pressure.
Teammate Hayven Smith sees it coming.
“Maddie is a quiet kid, but she has a grit like no one else,” Smith said. “She gets this look in her eyes where she holds the ball like, ‘I’m going.’
“I don’t care if she doesn’t pass the ball to me because she’s going to get to the free-throw line.”
Yacobozzi did it three times in the final 2:51 against the host Eagles, hitting 5 of 6 free throws. She also added a huge rebound, an assist on a 3-pointer by Lana Kerley and caught a home run inbounds pass by Kerley to seal a 53-51 victory.
High pressure. No nerves. What a finish.
“Well … you’re always nervous in a close game like that,” Yacobozzi said. But I think my want to win and it being a championship game overruled that.
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“I had started the game off rough. I couldn’t make a shot. But I just tried to stay in it, focus on defense. When the time came, I shot some free throws.”
Yacobozzi is second in assists, steals and deflections for the Griffins (14-3). She’s third in rebounds and fourth in scoring.
In minutes played? She’s first — for a good reason.
“Aside from her defense, she can run the point and she can knock down shots from the outside,” Nair said. “She’s kind of our do-it-all player, and we love having her.”
Showing the way: St. Laurence senior Lilliana Magana has a keen understanding of everything that coach George Shimko talks about in huddles.
And if a teammate looks like she really isn’t sure, Magana will step in.
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“Lilly will put a hand on her shoulder and talk to her, ‘This is what we’re trying to do,’” Shimko said. “She did a great job with our freshman (Sara Burzycki). We were talking about our high-low action, and Sara really didn’t understand it completely.
“As we were coming out of the timeout, I watched Lilly talking to her about it and explaining things.”
Magana, a senior guard, is a take-charge captain for the Vikings (11-6).
“I want to make sure I can be a second coach and help them understand,” Magana said. “Leading your team, especially in difficult times, helping them with encouragement or explaining something, is important.
“Nobody takes it personal. We all just want to build together.”
Magana had 14 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals on Dec. 23 as the Vikings topped the host Knights 59-22 in the championship game of the Chicago Christian Tournament.
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“Lilly has been a leader for us since she’s been in the program,” Shimko said. “She scores a lot, but she’s an unselfish scorer. She’s always trying to find a way to get her teammates open. She’s just an awesome kid.”
Follow-up punch: Marian Catholic’s Madison Davis stunned Butler at the outset of the Hillcrest Holiday Classic championship game. The junior guard poured in 15 points during the first quarter.
After Butler’s defense doubled down on Davis, sophomore Taylor Bolton responded by scoring seven points in the second quarter. Bolton finished with 14 points as Marian won 58-51.
No shy soph here.
“I’m feeling more and more like a mature player as the games go on,” Bolton said. “I actually like playing in big games like this one. It feels good to step up in a championship game.”
