Wauconda weathers Round Lake's comeback
It doesn't matter what the records are, because one way or another Round Lake and Wauconda always seem to engage in a good old-fashioned donnybrook whenever they get together.
That was the case Friday night, as the two girls basketball teams squared off in Wauconda's inaugural tournament. The host Bulldogs appeared to put the game out of reach after a sizzling third quarter that saw them outscore the Panthers 17-4 and take a commanding 36-17 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Round Lake woke up in that fourth quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 14-3, but the valiant comeback effort wasn't enough. Wauconda held on for a 39-29 victory to move to 2-0 in the tournament and 2-0 overall. The Bulldogs will play Richmond-Burton on Monday night for the title.
"We've been pleased with the outcome (in the first two games), but not satisfied with the performance," Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis said. "We need more balance for an entire game. We had too many unforced errors and made some bad decisions (in the fourth quarter)."
Wauconda's comfortable lead in the third quarter was largely due to the post play of junior center Katie Rossetti, who pumped in 12 of her game-high 14 points in the frame.
"We switched up our defenses and (Round Lake) came back on us," said Rossetti, who also snagged 7 boards. "We need to take advantage of running both of our defenses, not just one. We're all good individual players. We just need more time playing together for us to develop into a team where we can work off each other."
Rossetti's scoring barrage along with some of that good pressure defense limited Round Lake to 2-of-11 shooting and forced the Panthers into 6 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were busy shooting 7 of 14 from the field in the third.
Dennis had started taking out the starters, and that's when things began clicking for Round Lake. After a jumper by Wauconda senior guard Corrina Vaughan (3 points) upped the lead to 38-15 to start the fourth, Round Lake (0-2, 0-2) went on a 14-0 run to cut the lead to 38-29, but it was a little too late.
"We played decent most of the game and had some good looks. There was just a lid on the basket for a while," Round Lake assistant coach Doug Barnshaw said. "We got things going once we started hitting some shots in the fourth and got on that run. Even though we lost, that fourth quarter is something positive to build on as we move forward. We're young but we're going to keep getting better."
Senior forward Miyah Johnson (team-high 10 points) and junior guard Lesley Diaz (7 points) each scored five apiece to fuel the Panthers' fourth-quarter spurt.
"(Round Lake) always plays hard and keep scrapping and fighting," Dennis said. "Just goes to show you can't take anyone lightly and you can't rest on any lead."