Freshman Lear enjoys a birthday scoring bash
Thunderbirds guard turns 15, celebrates by totaling 20 points
Thornwood freshman Nayo Lear celebrated her 15th birthday on Tuesday night by dancing on a chair while being serenaded by her teammates.
That came after she threw a party for herself in the fourth quarter against Lincoln-Way Central.
“I was telling myself before the game that I wanted to score 15,” Lear said. “I wanted it for my birthday.”
She scored more than that in the Thunderbirds’ 52-50 SouthWest Suburban Red victory.
Lear finished with 20 points for Thornwood (16-1, 4-0). Fantasia Baines added seven points and six rebounds, Lunden Alexander had seven points, and Jaylene Wade contributed five points and seven rebounds.
Regan LoConte scored 23 points for Lincoln-Way Central (8-8, 2-2). Haley Stoklosa added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Lear, a 5-foot-8 guard, lit up the scoreboard for 12 of Thornwood’s 15 points in the fourth quarter. She was 5-of-6 from the line in the final 1:31.
They all came after Lear caught an errant elbow and had to leave
the game with a bloody nose.
“And they didn’t call the foul,” Lear said with a smile. “But I was coming back. That’s why I rushed to the bathroom and rushed back out.”
Baines had the other three points for the Thunderbirds in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with 33 seconds remaining that put them up 51-49.
On this night, the fourth quarter belonged to the birthday girl.
“My coaches and teammates depend on me to get to the basket and get the score up,” Lear said. “That’s what I did.”
Thornwood coach Kevin Green appreciated more than the points.
“She’s something special,” Green said of Lear. “It’s great having a point guard like that. For a freshman, she has a great basketball IQ. And her use of the skill that she exhibits is off the chain.
“She is one of the toughest kids I’ve ever run into. I guess because of her birthday she wanted to come out and show that she really can play.”
The win helped erase the sting of Thornwood’s first loss of the season at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.
“I thought the girls would be down,” Green said. “And you could see that we weren’t what we normally are. But LincolnWay Central made us play. They are very disciplined and they are very fundamental. We couldn’t get them out of their sets.”
The Knights are without scoring leader Abi Baumgartner, who rolled an ankle in their previous game against Thornton.
LoConte picked up the slack in that game, nailing seven 3-pointers and scoring 32 points. She hit for four 3-pointers against Thornwood and ended up 7-of-7 from the line.
“She really has stepped up and not just because Abi has been out,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Campanile said of LoConte. “It’s just how her own game has been developing throughout the year. She has found confidence in that (3-point) shot from really anywhere.
“She has the green light for this year and next year as a senior. I couldn’t be more proud of her and of our group to come in here with our best player out and have control until the end.”