LaCaze leads the way for Thornwood
Senior center lets go of her mistakes as a shot-blocking force for Thunderbirds
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.