More Top Picks Best Diffusers For Food Photography
player ready...Fiona Spuria is a bit of an oddity.
She’s one of only two seniors in the Maine South girls basketball team’s starting five. She’s also the lone post player in the four-guard lineup.
And at 5-foot-9, Spuria regularly gives up a few inches to the girls she battles under the hoop.
Yet, the Park Ridge resident continues to get the job done for the Hawks. On Friday, Spuria had four points and a game-high 11 rebounds to help Maine South overcome a cold start and earn a 49-36 Central Suburban South win over Niles West in Skokie.
Spuria said she’s happy to do the dirty work for a Hawks team blessed with plenty of perimeter threats.
“My teammates are very good shooters, so I just get in there, try to get a rebound and push it back out because it’s hard to go back up because I’m pretty short,” Spuria said.
A post player throughout her career, Spuria said she has learned how to be more effective when she goes up for a shot against taller opponents.
“I’m pretty short for my position, so it’s just kind of putting a little head fake and putting my body into (a taller opponent),” she said. “And when I box out, I just kind of hold it for a second longer, so (the referee) can see if the person guarding me goes over the back. I have to do that extra step that will give me an advantage.”
To help his team overcome its lack of height, Maine South coach Mark Smith said he has also employed analytics in recent years. Smith said he’s aware of data that suggests 80 percent of rebounds fall to the weak side, or away from the shooter.
When Smith and his staff have charted Maine South’s shots, the Hawks have produced similar percentages.
Smith said playing these percentages has helped his team outrebound many taller opponents. Maine South had a double-digit rebounding edge over a much bigger Lake Forest team in the Hawks’ 48-30 win on Dec. 2.
“I think a lot of (the rebounds in that game) were just knowing where the ball was going to go, and being on the correct side of the court,” Smith said.
Smith added: “We shoot a lot of 3s. When they go in, it’s pretty. But when they miss, the crowd sees a great offensive rebound and a put-back. But what we see is: ‘Boy, she was in the right spot.'”
Spuria said she has successfully incorporated these theories into her game.
“(Smith) tells us in drills, ‘Go to the weak side,’ because that’s where most of the rebounds go,” Spuria said. “I always try to get over there, find a defender and just box out. A lot of times, that’s where the board does go. Shots are a little too long more than they are short.”
The Hawks’ shots were long and short early in Friday’s game, as Maine South (11-2, 3-1) opened the game 0-for-12 from the floor and fell behind 10-0.
Spuria got her team’s first points when she hit two free throws with 1:32 left in the first quarter.
But Maine South bounced back with a 20-2 run, eventually taking a 22-16 advantage into the break. The Hawks were up by 11, 35-24, after three quarters, and led by as many as 16 in the fourth against the Wolves (5-6, 1-3).
“It was a very slow start,” Spuria said. “We just had a hard time finishing, and had to focus a little more. We were just throwing shots up. We needed to put more effort and concentration into our shots.”
Notes
More Top Picks Dog Foods
Maine South junior guard Sophia Albano had 10 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Hayley Semple added eight points and seven rebounds.
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press