Top this: McConnell, Fremd keep rolling
Five days after hitting her career-high of 33 points, Fremd’s Ashley McConnell didn’t wait long to top that number.
The senior guard rang up 35 points on Wednesday to help lead the Vikings to a 64-47 victory in their opening-round game of the Montini tournament in Lombard.
The victory moves Fremd (14-3) into a quarterfinal match today with state power Marian Catholic.
McConnell had 10 baskets, four from 3-point range, and was 11-of-11 at the free throw line.
“I don’t have the shooting percentages, but she didn’t miss many shots,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “She scored so many ways — layups, free throws, three’s, pull ups. She is playing at an extremely high level right now.”
Yates said the matchup with Proviso West was as tough as his team has faced in the last five years of an opening round of a Christmas tournament.
“This tournament is loaded,” Yates said. “Proviso West is undefeated in their side of the West Suburban Conference.”
The Vikes took control early and led 15-2 after one quarter.
“We got off to a great start,” Yates said. “We played very well throughout the game. Proviso West is super athletic and I thought we showed good composure all game. We played to our strengths and controlled the game. They made a few runs in the second half and we had an answer each time.”
Vikings freshman guard Brianna Lewis, who scored 7 points with a 3-pointer, is familiar with many of the Proviso West girls. She played with them growing up and was headed to Proviso West until she moved into the Fremd district with her aunt this past year.”
“Brianna played a very strong game,” Yates said. “She gives us a second ballhandler and is getting better each time she steps on the court for us. She did not play with us this summer so I feel like she understands what we want each practice and game that goes by. Her future is very bright.”
Other top scorers for the Vikes were senior Bernie Williams (13 points) and junior Hannah LaBarge (5).
The Vikes tip off at 6:30 p.m. today against Marian Catholic
“Marian Catholic is one of the top teams in the state,” Yates said of the Maine West Tip-Off Classic champ. “They are a very good basketball team. We are going to have to play at a very high level and I am excited to see us do it.
“Christmas is the time to step out of conference and get challenged. We are excited for the opportunity to play them.”
Rolling Meadows 88, St. Joseph 38: Rolling Meadows grabbed a 30-11lead after one quarter and never looked back in its opening game of the Montini tourney,
Mustangs junior guard Jackie Kemph scored all 27 of her points in the first half and also collected 6 assists.
Alexis Glasgow (14 points, 3 steals), Jenny Vliet (13 points, 3 3-pointers, 8 rebounds and Elizabeth Vasilogambros (11 points, 3 steals) all reached double figures for the Mustangs (14-0),
Allie Kemph, Katie Shewmon and Hannah Mickey each had 6 rebounds for Meadows.
“It was just a result of good defense and sharing the basketball,” said Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky of the Mustangs’ 88 points, their second highest total of the season. “Our kids were anxious to get back on the court, and they came out ready to play. Now we look forward to a tough test with Zion-Benton (8:15 p.m. quarterfinal today).”
Conant 35, Huntley 33: Katie Lomas (14 points), Sarah Mazurek () and Lexi Zades (6) were top scorers for Conant which plays Streamwood at 5 p.m. today.
“Our defense and attitude won the game for us,” said Cougars coach Dan Travers. “We were consistent and had good bench play.”
Travers said forwards Lomas, Haley Anderson and DeeDee Durr played solid defense on the talented post players for Huntley.
“And our perimeter players (Sidney O’Keeffe, Zades, Lily Chavarria and Mazurek) pressured their outside shooters and tried to force turnovers,” the coach added. “We knew they were good inside.”
Trailing 27-24 at half, Conant went on an 8-0 run to start the third quarter. Lomas hit a clutch 3-pointer during that rally.
“Katie did a good job taking the ball to the basket off the dribble and hitting jump shots,” Travers said. “It was a good team win.”
Elk Grove 38, Glenbard North 30: First-year Elk Grove coach Kathie Swanson made her debut a winning one in the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic at Wheaton North as senior Diamond Boyd struck for game-high 20 points.
Senior guard Kelly Naughton added 8 points and Kari Czeszewski 5 for the No 8-seeded Grens (9-5), who will face No. 1 Glenbrook South in today’s 8 p.m. quarterfinal.
Barrington 62, Resurrection 60 (OT): Making its debut in the long-running and prestigious Dundee-Crown tournament, Barrington got off on the right foot to improve to 10-5.
Freshman Megan Talbot led the Fillies with 17 points, 11 rebounds 2 steals and 3 blocks while senior Alexa Resch added 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Sophomore Bailee McDonald (5 rebound) chipped in 10 points and Angie Kirchoff 7 for the winners who advance to today’s 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal against Evanston.
Brooke Gunderson and Kirchoff each had 3-pointers for the Fillies. Barrington freshman Bryana Hopkins had 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists.
The Fillies led 43-28 after three quarters but Resurrection rallied for a 4-point lead with 1:06 left.
Kirchoff hit a bucket to cut the deficit to 52-50 with under a minute and Resch hit a rebound layup at the buzzer to send the game to OT.
The Fillies led by as many as 6 in the extra session.
The game was tied at 60 with eight seconds left. That’s when Talbot drove the baseline and flipped a nifty pass to Resch, who converted the layup once again as time expired.
“Our offense was very balanced,” said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. “I thought Megan Talbot did a nice job creating offense for the team. She was very aggressive at the both ends of the floor. And Bailee McDonald gave us tremendous minutes off the bench. She did a super job.”
“I give Resurrection credit — they didn’t quit. We had a difficult time putting them away, But I was proud the way our kids came through and did what they had to do.”
Bandits junior guard Liz Rehberger scored a game-high 36 points, including 27 in the second half and overtime,
Hononegah 65, Prospect 58: Prospect led 28-22 at the half and 36-28 after three quarters but Hononegah scored 24 points, including 6 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter to put away the Dundee-Crown opening-round contest.
Sophomore Taylor Will led the Knights (7-7) with 21 points followed by Adriane Falagario (14) and Catherine Sherwood (13).
New Trier 49, Maine West 42: Junior forward Brittany Collins scored 20 points to lead Maine West (5-9) in its opening-round game of the Dundee-crown tourney.
Naperville Central 51, Buffalo Grove 43: Buffalo Grove was led by senior Bailey North (16 points) and freshman Maddie Welter (11 points, 3 3-pointers) in its opening game of the Dundee-Crown tourney.
St. Viator 57 Elmwood Park 29: Junior Erin Fabbri (17 points) and senior Justice Johnson (10) led St. Viator (8-8) which improved to 2-0 in its own Snowflake tourney.
Fenton 56, Leyden 44: Tina Guarino (20 points) and Sidney Montano (14) led Fenton in the second-round contest of Snowflake tourney while Kathy Wojtulewicz was high scorer for Leyden with 12 points.
Lake Forest 40, Wheeling 31: Playing their second game in the Blue Devil Classic at Warren, the Wildcats (5-11) were led by Deanna Kuzmanic (12 points), Hannah Dobrowski (8), Brie Majkowski (6) and Elizabeth Smith (5).
Prairie Ridge 56, Hoffman Estates 40: The Hawks lost for only the third time in 11 games this season as they fell in their opening-round game of the Mundelein tournament. Hoffman was third in the event a year ago.