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Liwag leads the way in Maine West's win

When discussing Monica Liwag's floor game in Friday's 57-38 come-from-behind win over Highland Park, Maine West coach Derril Kipp said the Warriors junior guard was steady, hit big shots when needed and made steals.

And one more thing.

"She gave us some leadership that we have been lacking," he added.

If ever the Hall of Fame coach needed leadership, it's this season.

For the first time in his 34 seasons, he is playing three freshmen regularly on the floor.

He has never even played two in the past.

All three - Catherine Johnson (13 points, 11 rebounds), Allison Pearson (12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) and Jessica Riedl (4 points) - have started this season.

They made their Des Plaines debuts in Friday's Central Suburban North contest after West (4-5, 3-0) had played its first eight games away from home.

"They are really helping us this season and we already have real good chemistry," Liwag said. "They are working real hard."

The Warriors worked hard to get back into the game after falling behind 13-3 after nine minutes.

They went from their least to most productive quarter, scoring 25 points in the second period to lead 28-21 at intermission.

Liwag helped ignite the big comeback by scoring West's first 6 points of the second quarter.

"We realized how far down we were (on the scoreboard) and we just started playing harder," Liwag said. "We knew we had to start being aggressive."

Liwag's two buckets and 2 free throws cut the deficit to 15-9 with 5:45 left in the half.

An 8-footer in the lane by junior Megan Centella got West to within 15-13 and a 3-pointer by Liwag closed the gap to 19-18.

The hosts took the lead for good on a nifty left-handed driving scoop layup by Pearson to make it 22-21 before Johnson extended it to 24-21 with a 17-footer.

Two free throws by junior Jordan Hart and a layup by Pearson provided West its 28-21 cushion at the break.

"We had too many turnovers," said Highland Park coach Jolie Bechtel. "We were doing better earlier in the game, then we weren't taking care of the basketball and we had too many fouls, too."

The Warriors kept the pressure on in the third period when they scored 20 points, including Pearson's 20-foot running 3-pointer that banked home at the buzzer for a 48-29 lead.

Johnson was only Warrior to score a basket in the final period. She made three and added a free throw to net her career-high of 13 points.

"Catherine has sparked us either starting or coming off the bench in all four of our wins," Kipp said.

"We have a lot of kids who can play, I think we just kind of wore them down in the second quarter and we were a little better with our shot selection."

All three freshmen now have career-highs of 13 points while Liwag's is 12.

Junior Kayla Pociejewski added 6 points and had some key rebounds to trigger the Warriors' transition game.

Juniors Vaidika Patel, Richa Patel and Eliza Palarz also made it into the scoring column for the winners.

Highland Park (0-9, 0-2) was led by senior Sydney Levenfeld and freshman Kirby Bartelstein, who each scored 8 points.

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