Girls Basketball: Tinley Park Rolls Past Bremen and into Regional Semifinals

The Hot Read: The Lady Titans jumped out to a strong start as the playoffs began. Tinley Park grabbed a 10-3 lead on the Bremen Lady Braves on freshman forward Shayla Joyner’s offensive rebound and bucket. The Lady Titans forced eight Bremen turnovers in the first quarter, including a steal and lay-up plus a foul shot for senior guard Bre Nunn to give Tinley a 19-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Tinley continued to outmatch Bremen in the second quarter, extending its lead to 35-13 by halftime. Lady Titans coach Jason Becker was able to go deep into his bench to close out the game.

Patch’s MVP: Freshman forward Shayla Joyner (10 points, 7 rebounds) dominated the game in a decisive first quarter, scoring six points, which included two put-backs on offensive rebounds. Coach Becker said the team was intentionally looking for Joyner in the post in the first half, and her play sparked the team.

Key Stats: The Lady Titans had 11 steals. Becker said he wanted his defense to be aggressive from the beginning in order to start fast breaks.

Tinley Park’s Leaders: In addition to Joyner: sophomore guard Diamond Beatty (6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals), senior guard Bre Nunn (9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals) and junior guard Mariah Blackman (8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals).

Bremen’s Leaders: Senior guard Sarah Webster (9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), sophomore guard Maggie Hayes (8 points, 2 rebounds) and junior forward Ayuanna Washington (3 points, 9 rebounds).

Quotable: Tinley Park coach Jason Becker on his team’s fast start: “That was our goal tonight. We wanted to come out and not give them a chance to stay in the game, and take it to them from the beginning. The girls were ready to play and they didn’t let up.”

Team Records: Tinley Park: 9-14. Bremen: 4-23.

What’s Next: Tinley Park takes on Rich South on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Bremen in the semifinals of the Bremen Regional.