Buffalo Grove survives Warren rally
Buffalo Grove girls basketball coach Pat Dudle said that at this time of year, in the playoffs, it’s all about survival.
That’s exactly what the Bison did Tuesday night at their own regional Class 4A semifinal — survive.
BG built a lead and held it for most of the game against No. 10 seeded Warren, but a Blue Devils clamp-down defensive effort in the fourth quarter saw them claw their way back in the contest.
Warren had the last shot to win at the buzzer, but a final attempt just missed and BG held on for a 33-32 win.
No. 7 BG (17-14) will face No. 2 Fremd (24-6) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the championship.
“Their defense rushed us a little,” said Dudle, whose team tried to play keep-away down the stretch and had just enough to win.
“We had a few possessions where we tried to take some ticks off the clock, and we got lucky enough that there weren’t enough ticks left at the end.”
Warren lost despite a monster game from center Jessica Prince. The 6-foot-3 junior scored a game-high 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had 4 blocked shots.
“Our defense gave us a chance to win tonight,” said Blue Devils coach John Stanczykiewicz. “We’d get three, four, five stops in a row, but we couldn’t capitalize on them on the offensive end, and that’s a recipe for disaster.”
The Bison, who were 6-of-22 from 3-point range, built their biggest lead of the game at 28-20 late in the third quarter after senior guard K.C. Dunne (team high 12 points) nailed her third 3.
But Warren’s spirited pressure defense, which held the Bison to 3 fourth-quarter points, stepped up late and when Devils junior guard Alexis Leneau (7 points) hit a layup with 21 seconds remaining in the game, the visitors had cut the lead to 1 point.
After a BG turnover in the frontcourt with 5.4 seconds left, Leneau drove the length of the floor and put up a 10-footer which was just off the front of the rim.
Prince was in position for a rebound and putback but the buzzer sounded before she could make the play.
“I was boxing out and ready, but time just ran out,” said Prince.
Senior guard Emily Georgoulis scored 6 points for the Bison while classmate Andrea DiPirma pitched in with 5.
Junior Amanda Barger scored 5 points for the Blue Devils while teammate Alyssa Phillips tallied 4 points and had 10 rebounds.
“All year long, we haven’t been a good shooting team,” Stanczykiewicz said. “Tonight it was the same way, but we’re a young team, and with our athleticism, we’re only going to get better. Next year we hope to make some noise in our conference and the state playoffs.”