Buffalo Grove finishes Wheeling

Buffalo Grove nudged ahead 37-32 lead when Emily Cho drove to the basket for a scoop layup with 5:18 left in Tuesday's Mid-Suburban League East girls basketball game.

The 5-point cushion allowed Bison coach Pat Dudle to put his team into a “four-corners” offense, something Cho did not mind at all.

“It gives us a lot of possibilties,” said the 5-foot-6 junior point guard.

One of them is Cho driving to the basket, which she did on the Bison's very first possession in the new offense.

This time, she not only drove in for a layup but also got fouled and completed the 3-point play for a 40-32 lead with 3:09 left.

Cho added 3 more free throws in the final 1:07 as the Bison pulled away for a 54-40 victory in a game that was close for three and half quarters.

“She's clutch,” said Dudle about Cho's scoring 8 of her 10 points in the final 5:18. “She has carried us in the late moments of a number of games. She is really consistent with free throws.”

“They were sagging off us in the lane so I thought maybe we could spread them out (with the four corners). Emily was able penetrate and get baskets on her own or assist on a few of them.”

Cho also made a nifty bounce pass to Alanna Zawlocki for a layup in the final quarter when BG outscored the Wildcats 23-12.

“Alanna has given us so much energy off the bench the last couple of weeks,” Dudle said of the 5-9 senior forward. “If we could start six, she'd start. She contributes so much energy.”

Senior Andrea DiPrima contributed a team-high 13 points while classmates Emily Georgoulis and KC Dunne both had 11.

Sophomore Bailey North and Zawlocki, who helped on the boards, each scored 4 points as the Bison (9-12), 4-2 won for the eighth time in their last 12 games after a 1-8 start.

“The first half was rough,” DiPrima said. “But we really came together in the second half.”

“We won the game with a our defensive intensity at the end,” Dudle said. “We need that to compete. We've had balanced scoring the last few weeks. We are at our best when we are sharing the basketball.”

Junior Leah Malsom led the Wildcats (3-19, 1-5) with 12 points and 5 rebounds while classmate Kellie Kuzmanic added 11 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

“We're hanging in there,” said Wheeling coach Julissa Hernandez, whose four seniors (Kelsey Maczko, Kayla Jordan, Ellie Grinter and Alyson Fallon were honored before the game for Senior's Night. “Our defense is tough but we have little breakdowns that get us. Other than that, we're right there. It's just a couple more steps.”

Grinter stepped to the free throw line and sank 2 free throws to start a 7-0 run which put Wheeling ahead 18-15 in the first quarter.

Back-to-back layups by Dunne, who made a nifty no-look over-the-head pass after grabbing a deflection late in the first quarter, gave BG a 19-18 lead early in the second quarter.

The game stayed close all the way to the middle of the final quarter.

Two free throws by Jordan brought the Wildcats to within 35-32 with 5:35 left before Cho's scoop layup started the Bison on a 9-2 run.

“We had to finish our chances,” said Jordan, who finished with 6 points, one behind Maczko's 7 (two 3-pointers). “It was really nice to see how we improved from the last time we played them (60-44 loss). I thought our intensity was great. We were pumped up and ready to go from the start.”

Hernandez sees the Wildcats making strides.

“We don't have that deep of a bench so we have to be smart with fouls,” she said. “And even though we have seniors, we don't have a lot of varsity playing-time experience. I thought Jessi Zuba did a great job starting for us and Kellie (Kuzmanic) is our most consistent player.”