New Trier runs past Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove girls basketball coach Steve Kolodziej knew his team faced a tall task - literally - Monday night against New Trier in the semifinals of the 32nd annual Charger Classic Christmas Tournament at Dundee-Crown.
But what the Trevians proved is they are more than just a tall basketball team.
New Trier made seven 3-pointers and opened up a close game midway through the second quarter before cruising to a 67-45 win over the Bison.
"They're pretty good" Kolodziej said of the Trevians, who ran their record to 14-0 for the season. "We gave them everything we had but they made a run on us in the second quarter and you could see in our kids' eyes that they stopped believing."
New Trier will defend its Charger Classic championship at 8 p.m. Tuesday against Prospect in a battle of unbeatens as well as a rematch of last year's title game won by New Trier 54-35. Buffalo Grove (12-2) will take on Evanston at 6:30 p.m. for third place.
BG was hanging with the Trevians early Monday, trailing just 15-14 after one quarter, partially on the strength of two 3-pointers from junior Maddie Welter, who hit two more to open the second quarter and give the Bison a 20-17 lead. After the teams traded 2-pointers, though, New Trier went on an 18-6 run to close out the first half and take a 37-28 lead into the break.
The Trevians had four different players score during the game-changing run, a fact not lost on their coach, Teri Rodgers.
"I thought we were really patient with the basketball in the first half, very unselfish, and I'm most pleased with that," Rodgers said. "We came in here wanting to improve on our half-court zone offense and we've really done that."
The Trevians put the game away by scoring the first 14 points of the third quarter to open up a 51-28 lead with 3:02 left in the period.
New Trier's biggest lead of the game was 64-38 after 2 free throws by 6-foot-3 junior Jeannie Boehm with 5:05 to play.
"We came out in the second half and didn't have the intensity," said Kolodziej, whose team ended up shooting just 31.6 percent for the game (18-for-57) while being outrebounded 37-30.
"We'll learn from this though. We have some lofty goals and that was a good team we played tonight. That's why we play in this tournament."
Welter led the Bison with 17 points, hitting on 5 of 12 from 3-point range. Maddy Callahan had 7 points and Natali Dimitrova 6 rebounds.
Boehm led New Trier with 26 points on 10 of 11 shooting and 10 rebounds. Junior Kathryn Pedi had 15 points and junior Haley Greer added 10.
"You have to know where (Greer and Pedi) are all the time and we left some of their better players open and that hurt us," said Kolodziej. "They've got a tough combination inside and outside and it's hard to stop both."