Junior guard Isabel Lopez not only brings her “A” game to practice for Reavis, she uses it to make them longer.
Or at least she used to, according to Rams coach Tim Zasada.
“We do a free-throw game where we try to keep records,” Zasada said. “We don’t even do that anymore because we want to go home.
“One time, she made 37 free throws in a row. I was like, ‘Don’t stop till you miss? Well, we’ve got a bus to catch.’ The record still stands at 37.”
Lopez only shot two free throws Thursday night, but she used other components of her game to lead Reavis to a 53-43 win over Bremen in a South Suburban Conference crossover.
The 5-foot-8 Lopez finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for Reavis (4-3, 1-0). Lily Hernandez added 18 points, while Aubree Halloran contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.
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led Bremen (3-4, 0-1) with 12 points. Aubrey Wilks finished with 11 points, while Asia Olivera added 10.Lopez was a playmaker at a key moment. Reavis led just 45-42 with 3:30 remaining when she made a fancy move across the top of the key and found Hernandez open on the left side for a 3-pointer.
The next time down the floor, Lopez did it herself, draining her fifth 3-pointer of the game to put the Rams up by nine.
She enjoyed Hernandez hitting her 3-pointer as much as her own.
“It’s nice not to have so much pressure on me to shoot all the time,” Lopez said.
Indeed, Hernandez can shoot as well as she can play the point.
“We work together,” Hernandez said, smiling. “When she’s on fire, she’s definitely hot.”
Lopez had a breakout sophomore season for the Rams, averaging 18.5 points and hitting 93 3-pointers. Her 518 points set the program’s single-season record.
“I think sometimes when you have good shooters, they just look like they were born for it,” Zasada said. “She’s a shooter. You could tell right away from her freshman year that she could zone in on an area and hit five or 10 in a row.”
She hit two in a row from the same spot in the right corner Thursday and then added a third 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the arc. It turned an 8-4 deficit into a 13-8 lead.
When she’s on fire …
“I just look for an open spot,” Lopez said. “If I see a girl cheating up, I know I have to go more down so I have enough time to shoot it before she gets to me.
“I don’t think about it when I shoot. If I’m hot at a spot, I go to it because I have confidence that I’m going to do it again.”
Lopez — and many of her teammates — had a rough start to the season. A flu outbreak resulted in six players out, four of them starters. They had to warm up for one game with five girls.
“I had to miss two games and it was pretty hard,” Lopez said. “I wanted to be there so badly, but I couldn’t. I was just too sick.”
Lopez returned Nov. 23 against Evergreen Park and only scored four points. Against Rosary, she sat with foul trouble for most of the first two quarters, but roared to life with 20 points in the second half.
“I was still a little off because I wasn’t as sick, but I still had a cough,” Lopez said. “I was trying to get back into it.”
Consider her back.