Schaumburg regroups with strong showing at Niles West

Schaumburg's trip to Skokie for Saturday's matinee proved to be just what the doctor ordered.

Coming off a tough loss to Barrington the night before, the Saxons showed their character with a 65-58 victory over Niles West in the nonconference girls basketball game.

"Nice bounce-back win," said Saxons senior Lexi Ross, who will play volleyball at Millikin University in Decatur.

"We played well (Friday night in loss to Barrington) but had a few unfortunate plays at the end," said senior Paige Alt, who will play softball at Georgia Coastal. "So this was very nice. We needed this so we can start the rest of our conference games again with some momentum."

Alt played a key role in the Saxons' offense which saw four players in double figures for the first time this season.

Junior Mallory Gerber led the charge with 20 points, tying her season-high of four 3-pointers.

Next came Alt (14), junior Laura O'Connell (13) and junior Maya Bowens (10).

"We work really well as a team," said Ross, who had a big fourth-quarter putback which gave Schaumburg (13-8) a 6-point lead with 1:41 left. "It's great."

Alt had the hot hit hand in the first quarter delivering back-to-back 3-pointers which gave the visitors an 11-8 lead.

The lead got as high as 26-20 when Gerber connected from long range with 4:20 left in the half.

But the Wolves (5-16) went on a 8-0 run with players from four different classes each scoring a bucket - freshman Sam Galanopoulos, junior Jasmine Nelson, senior Jalynn Estrada and sophomore Tricia Pabst.

The driving layup by Pabst with 2:05 left gave Niles West its first lead at 28-26.

But the Saxons didn't flinch, scoring three baskets in the final 45 seconds to lead 32-28 at intermission.

A putback by Bowens tied the game at 28. Schaumburg regained the lead at 30-28 on a short bank shot by Bowens with 25 seconds.

Then, with the time expiring, junior Gina D'Orazio made a steal after a Wolve grabbed an offensive rebound.

D'Orazio (6 points) quickly scooted around the defender on the baseline and flipped a short pass to O'Connell, who hit the 8-footer just before the buzzer sounded.

"That last minute of the first half was a big part to the game," said Niles West coach Tony Konsewicz. "That changed the mindset of the second half."

Despite a big second half by Estrada when she scored 17 of her game-high 21 points, the Saxons were able to pull out the win.

"We need to get better when we make adjustments and executing them," Konsewicz said. "But we are young and learning. Hats off to Schaumburg. They came here and played hard."

Estrada scored the first basket of the second half by darting through defenders for a layup that closed the deficit to 32-30.

But the Saxons gained control with a 9-4 run that included Alt's second 3-pointer. Later, in the quarter, she produced a 3-point play.

"I've been trying to work on my whole game," said Alt, one of the premier pitchers in the Mid-Suburban League. "I've been trying to get inside and work in the post. I don't want to just be a 3-point shooter."

"It's great when someone gets the hot hand," Ross said. "Because we all feed off each other's energy."

Estrada made a great feed to Pabst, who converted the layup that gave the hosts their last lead at 45-44 late in the third quarter.

The game was tied at 47 when Gerber hit a 14-footer in the lane with five seconds left in the third period.

That sparked a 9-1 run (58-48 lead) and Schaumburg never trailed again.

Bowens, who scored 6 of her 10 points in the second quarter, reached double figures for the fourth time this season.

"Maya played real well," said Saxons coach Curtis Goodwin. "The team was playing with a lot of energy. We kind of controlled the game (Friday night) so it was a tough loss. We talked about coming back with energy and the girls showed up it."