Lincoln-Way West’s Molly Finn doesn’t have to look far to find good coaching.
Two live in her house. Her father, Bill, is a hall of fame basketball mentor. Her mother, Jen, was a three-sport athlete at Stagg who played basketball at Illinois Wesleyan and also coached travel.
“They both have coached me all my life,” Molly said. “I’ve learned so much from them.”
The junior guard also has put all of that knowledge to good use. Even though she has verbally committed to play softball at Valparaiso, she’s still dangerous on the basketball court.
Finn scored 11 of her team-high 14 points in the final 6:31 of Tuesday night’s 50-42 SouthWest Suburban Conference victory over host Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort.
Before her shots started falling with regularity, Finn caused trouble in other areas, finishing with 10 rebounds and two steals or Lincoln-Way West (12-4, 5-0).
Ava Tisch and Caroline Smith came through with nine points apiece for the Warriors, who would snap a three-game losing streak and are last team with an unbeaten record in conference.
Alaina Vargas led Lincoln-Way East (11-7, 3-3) with 19 points, including three 3-pointers in the final seven minutes. Mia Limpin added 10 points.
Finn and Tisch, meanwhile, each made three 3-pointers as the Warriors finished with 11.
While Finn’s all-around ability doesn’t surprise Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan White, who’s had the 5-foot-7 Finn on the varsity roster since freshman year, one transformation has been key.
“Her rebounds are off the charts,” White said. “She might be averaging up to eight rebounds a game. She has to rebound for us. When she gets steals and rebounds, it just elevates us.”
Tisch also enjoys watching Finn do a variety of good things on the court. Tisch caught Finn’s pass and drained a 3-pointer with 2:39 left in the game to put the Warriors ahead 45-41.
“She definitely scores for us and can hit a lot of threes,” Tisch said of Finn. “She can definitely rebound. And she has a great attitude, too.”
The Warriors also were happy to get Smith back in the lineup.
After the Drake volleyball recruit injured her ankle in a 47-44 win over Lane Tech in the opening round of a tournament at Loyola, the Warriors lost 74-19 to the host Ramblers, 45-31 to Carmel and 35-22 to Lincoln-Way Central. Lincoln-Way West had defeated the Knights 54-43 on Dec. 19.
“When we lost her, it sucked the wind out of us,” White said of Smith. “I think they kind of freaked out. Our next game was against Loyola, and it just went down from there.”
But the Warriors got back into the swing of things upon Smith’s return Tuesday.
Like Smith, Finn continues to excel at two sports, and White is happy she continues put in time and effort to play basketball.
“For years, she put 50-50 into softball and basketball,” White said of Finn. “Then she was playing at a higher level in softball, but she puts a lot of time into both sports. I don’t know how she does it.
“She could be a four-year starter in both sports, and that’s impressive.”
Bill Finn, her dad, won more than 500 games coaching men’s basketball at Moraine Valley and is a member of the Richards, Illinois Skyway, National Junior College Basketball Coaches and three other halls of fame. He will be inducted by Moraine Valley in March.
Her father’s life has been dominated by basketball, but Molly said he has been supportive throughout her softball career.
“I feel like I’m pretty even athletic-wise for each sport,” Molly said. “But he felt like I had a better shot at softball college-wise.
“He was happy for me and would have been happy for me no matter what sport I chose.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
