Butler senior guard Xamiya Walton drove to the basket and was fouled but missed the layup. Before she rose to her feet, she smacked the grow in frustration as she missed some shots she usually made in the first half.
At the beginning of the third quarter, with Butler nursing a six-point lead, the Lady Lynx’s coach, Xaver Walton, had a conversation with his point guard and daughter.
“I said, ‘Right now, the game is a little bit too close, we need a basket,’” Xaver Walton said. “Then she got the ball, went right to the basket, and scored a layup.”
Butler eventually pulled away in its 59-49 win over Plainfield East in the Kenner Classic at Whitney Young. Walton chipped in 17 points. She also made plays for her teammates when she wasn’t trying to attack the basket or score. She has trust in her teammates to help her share the scoring load.
“Scoring is everything, especially people like Sereniti [Adams] and Yahri [Smith] already having big games. It’s important for me to do all the little things to make sure we get extra possessions and get hands on the loose balls.“
Walton, a Northwestern recruit, grabbed seven rebounds and guarded Plainfield East’s Lexi Sepulveda on several possessions. To start the third quarter, Walton also forced a turnover and dove on a loose ball.
The Lady Lynx’s depth was the difference in the game. Their key players other than Walton showed up and contributed in huge ways.
Senior forward Sereniti Adams scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Lady Lynx. Her presence in the paint dissuaded many Plainfield East players from shooting in the paint. She consistently caught the ball whenever her teammates passed it and finished.
“That was a superstar performance,” Walton said. Those stats are crazy, especially in a game like that where they had a couple of bigs. That type of game contributes to winning.”
Smith scored 18 points for the Lady Lynx. Her scoring provided a big boost in the first quarter: She hit three threes in the first quarter as Butler rushed out to an early 12-2 lead. She has a fast release, and when given a sliver of daylight, she’s a concern for the other team.
“On the flyers, it says come see two of the best shooters, and I just wanted to live up to that and let the crowd see two of the best shooters,” Smith said.
The balanced scoring was a positive for Xaver, and it’s what he said he told his team that he liked.
“It’s about explaining to the rest of the girls that basketball is not an equal opportunity sport, and the better players are going to take the most shots,” Xaver Walton said. “When they do get their opportunities, we’re just hoping that they make the best of them and give us a basket.”
Sepulveda — a University of Southern Indiana commit — carried her team in the game, scoring 27 points for the Bengals.
Xaver said he saw his team take their foot off the gas after getting an early lead — the Lady Lynx hit their first four three-point shots. He’s happy with the win, but now it’s about getting his team to put together complete performances.
“We’re just trying to be ready for the state run at the end of the season,” Xaver Walton said. “That’s going to require us to put kids in and give them opportunities while we’re up.”
Kyle Williams is a staff reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.
