A slow start on offense means one thing for Lincoln-Way Central’s Gianna Amadio.
The 5-foot-8 senior guard actually prefers to play defense anyway, so when the shots aren’t falling — and they weren’t falling Monday night — she’s going to dig in her heels.
“I feel like not everybody comes into basketball wanting to play defense,” Amadio said afterward. “Everybody wants to score, but I look at it in a completely opposite way.
More Top Picks Car Cover
“I know my role as a player. I am not going to let anybody around me score.”
Not until she does.
Amadio then scored all eight of her points during a dominant stretch late in the game, rallying the Knights to a 41-34 SouthWest Suburban Red victory over Stagg in Palos Hills.
Amadio, a St. Xavier recruit, also had 13 rebounds as Lincoln-Way Central (9-0, 2-0) came back from a 12-point deficit in the first half. Gracen Gehrke scored a game-high 18 points.
Sophomore guard Abbey Hobert had 11 points for Stagg (5-6, 1-2). North Central College-bound senior guard Ameli Sanchez added nine points, five rebounds and three steals.
Amadio, though, scored her first basket off a steal at the end of the third quarter. And the rest was history.
“She just needs to get into the flow of the game,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Campanile said of Amadio, who also had three assists and three steals. “She might not always hit that first shot. She works her way in.
“Gianna has played so many basketball games, and you can see her get comfortable. That comfort level on the defensive ends becomes a part of her offensive game.”
Amadio also hit a crucial 3-pointer and scored six points during a 10-0 ru in the fourth. Most significantly, she helped shut down the potent tandem of Hobart and Sanchez.
That assignment is what makes her game go. However …
“I’m definitely a defensive player, but I can get to the rack,” Amadio said. “I can score, and I have definitely improved my 3-point shot. My confidence just grew late in the game.
“I felt like I was down on myself in the first half. I almost asked myself, ‘What’s going on?'”
As Stagg went nearly seven minutes without scoring, the aggressive defense of Amadio on the perimeter set the tone.
Gehrke, meanwhile, was the only player who scored in the first half for the Knights, who trailed 18-13 at halftime. Junior forward Brooke Baechtold hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points in the second half.
More Top Picks Best Butcher Block Cutting Boards
Amadio and Gehrke have played together since travel ball in fourth grade for a program that was started by Amadio’s father.
“She’s 110% all of the time,” Gehrke said. “She always puts in the effort, always hustling. She’s our energy boost that we need sometimes.
“We’ve played together for so long, and we bicker a lot. We push each other, we are critical of each other, but it makes us better.”
Amadio, who has been on the varsity since her sophomore season, is a two-year starter.
“Since my sophomore season, I have definitely taken on a bigger role,” she said. “When I started out, I was strictly about playing defense. Now, I have developed my offensive game.”
In that regard, Amadio has developed the ability to play on or off the ball. Her movement, poise and feel for intangibles set her apart.
“You saw what she was capable of (Monday night) when she hit the big three and got into the lane for another critical basket,” Campanile said. “She has that ability to really explode offensively. We needed that.”
And her self-confidence radiates in all directions.
“I feel like I have everybody’s support,” Amadio said. “Gracen is my best friend, and I have the most amazing people around me. They make me feel like a star out there.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.