Girls basketball | Class 2A Lisle Regional final: Zakhem, Berg lead Westmont to first regional title since 1999

Westmont was struck with twin blows this season when junior guards Catherine and Jennifer Zapinski, twin sisters, both suffered ACL injuries.

Sophomore Jackie Zakhem moved up to varsity in December to help, and Thursday night against host Lisle she helped the Sentinels move up the ladder to cut down their first regional championship nets since 1999.

Zakhem scored a game-high 16 points and hit four first-half 3-pointers to spark Westmont's 46-37 Class 2A regional victory over the Lions (21-8), Interstate Eight conference foes. The Sentinels (26-3) advance to the Reed-Custer sectional semifinal to play Coal City.

"In warmups I wasn't hitting anything," Zakhem said. "I was worried, but my teammates kept telling me to keep shooting."

Westmont coach Mike McCord said he was surprised by Lisle's zone defense, which was designed to stop 6-foot-2 center Sara Sternard and 5-10 forward Allison Berg but left Zakhem with a little too much shooting room. Her 14 first-half points pushed Westmont to a 32-21 halftime lead.

"She's had her hand wrapped, so a lot of people don't realize she can shoot," McCord said. "She's our only guard that can reliably handle the ball, and she can shoot the ball so quickly."

Sternard and Berg, both juniors, still did a lot of damage in the post, totaling 22 points and 20 rebounds.

Lisle pulled within nine points in the fourth quarter behind Darian Payne, who scored all of her 11 points in the second half. But the Sentinels efficiently ran down the clock to stop a comeback.

"Our defense leads to our offense, and our defense wasn't there," Lisle coach Jeff Javior said. "Our pressure wasn't enough. They were able to handle it with ease."


Player of the game: Jackie Zakhem, Westmont, 16 points.