Girls Basketball: Niles West faces first-place showdown with Maine South

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1/20/12 Winnetka-Niles Wests Alexa Czyzynski drives against New Triers Eileen Hurley. Stacia Timonere/for Sun Times Media

Updated: February 27, 2012 8:25AM

After ending its longest losing streak of the season, Niles West will try to carry that momentum into an important CSL South matchup.

The Wolves have a chance to remain in first place in the conference by knocking off visiting Maine South on Friday night.

Niles West’s title hopes seemed to take a hit with a 56-43 loss at New Trier Friday, but the Wolves and the rest of the CSL South teams caught a break when Maine South fell 46-36 at Evanston that same night.

The result dropped the Hawks into a three-way tie for first with Niles West and Glenbrook South at 5-2. The Wolves will travel to Glenbrook South on Feb. 10 in their regular-season finale. They beat the Titans 53-40 at home on Jan. 6.

“We’re still in the conference hunt,” coach Tony Konsewicz said. “Obviously, (Friday’s game) is a must-win for us.”

Niles West will enter that game having already ended a three-game skid with a 52-36 win over Danville on Saturday. The Wolves, though, weren’t as stout defensively during a 65-55 loss at Maine South on Dec. 9.

The Hawks knocked down 10 three-pointers and had five players score at least seven points, with Mackenzie Duffy’s career-high 16 leading the way. Niles West star Jewell Loyd had 22 of her 29 points in the final 10 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to rally her team from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter.

Slow starts hindered the Wolves during their three-game losing streak, Konsewicz said, adding that his team will likely have to do a better job of limiting its turnovers to win its upcoming games.

Niles West committed six turnovers in the first 4:09 in Friday’s game and missed its first six shots while falling behind 13-0. The Wolves rallied to take a lead as Loyd scored 10 of her 26 points during a 16-1 run but couldn’t take control for good.

“We’ve gotten into a bad rut in getting off to slow starts,” Konsewicz said.

“We’ve got to get out of that rut. ... We also need to be stronger with the ball and not throw the ball away. You can’t start off a big game by throwing the ball out of bounds.”