Green’s machine: Jabrea LaCaze brushes off mistakes as shot-blocking force for Thornwood. ‘I don’t have time for that.’

Thornwood coach Kevin Green kind of enjoys it these days when senior center Jabrea LaCaze makes a mistake.

Actually, it’s not the mistake he enjoys. It’s the reaction.

“She’ll come up to me and say, ‘I know, that was my mess up,’” Green said. “Last season, if I hollered at her, we’d lose her (mentally) for two games.

“Now, she knows when she does wrong and she does what she has to do.”

LaCaze did virtually everything right Monday night in a 60-26 Southland Conference victory over host Rich Township at Rich South in Richton Park.

Kayla Johnson led the way with 23 points for Thornwood (25-3, 11-0). Phalan Sigers and Trinity Chears added 11 points, while LaCaze contributed six points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Peyton Greenwood paced Rich Township (9-11, 5-3) with 10 points. Lulu Carroll had nine points and five rebounds.

The 6-foot-4 LaCaze was the last of the starters to score against Rich South. But she was among the first to have an impact with two blocked shots and two rebounds in the opening minutes.

After that, the Raptors didn’t drive with quite as much confidence, altering their shots. LaCaze even found her way out to the arc to contest a 3-point shot that went awry.

As a result, Thornwood held a 20-1 lead before Tylar Whitaker hit a jumper for Rich Township.

“At the beginning of the season, I was more like, ‘I need to score, I need to score,’” LaCaze said. “But at the end of the day, I know my points are going to come to me.

“My teammates are going to set me up in the best way, so now I want to go out there and play good defense.”

LaCaze is in her first season as a varsity starter. She’s averaging 9.8 points, 12 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots.

As a junior, Jabrea played behind her sister Jamarea and would generally go in when she came out.

Jamarea LaCaze, who is a freshman at Governors State, didn’t come out of games very often.

“I had no problem with that,” Jabrea said. “I always knew my time was going to come and I knew it was going to be this season.

“She is very supportive. I love my sister so much. Even though she’s in college, she tries to come to all of my games. She helps me each way, on offense and defense.”

The fall league brought the beginning of change.

“We had a talk before we started,” Green said. “Jabrea told me, ‘Coach Green, I’ll be ready for the season.’ She wasn’t looking good at the beginning of the fall league, but in our first game this season against Stagg, she had six blocked shots.

“After the game, she came up to me and said, ‘I’m ready.’”

Sigers noticed the difference.

“This season, you can see that Jabrea is working harder,” Sigers said. “Last year, she really couldn’t run. Now, she’s working her way up and down the court with ease.

“When she’s in the game, the other team is scared to attack the hole. She’ll get most of the offensive and defensive rebounds. When she’s under the basket, she also kicks the ball out really well. She’s a lot of fun to play with. She’s a very happy person.”

Even when she makes mistakes.

“You just have to let it go,” LaCaze said, smiling. “You can’t let one mistake affect your whole game. When coach says something to me, I brush it off and look to the next play, the next offensive move, whatever.

“I don’t get upset. I don’t have time for that. I know when I make a mistake, I won’t do it again.”