Lake Forest hangs on against Grant

It's a good thing Lake Forest girls basketball coach Kyle Wilhelm didn't ignore his flu symptoms and try to attend Tuesday's game at Grant.

He might have felt even sicker if he was forced to watch his team nearly lose an 11-point lead in the final minute.

Grant put up a furious rally and nearly pulled off an amazing comeback but Lake Forest hung on for a 52-51 North Suburban Conference crossover victory.

"At the end of the game, I was (getting a little nervous)," said Lake Forest assistant coach Reanna Perera. She filled in for Wilhelm, who was home with the flu. "I didn't want to have to explain (losing an 11-point lead) to (Wilhelm)."

Grant (13-14) was down 51-40 with about a minute to play when freshman guard Ally Mahinay (team-high 15 points) hit the first of two big 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 51-43.

The Bulldogs outscored Lake Forest 11-1 in that final minute and pulled the score to 52-51 with 7 seconds left on another Mahinay 3-pointer. Lake Forest guard Tori Salanty was then fouled and missed her free throw but the Scouts tracked down the rebound. They missed on a putback attempt and Grant got the ball back with 5 seconds left.

The Bulldogs, with no timeouts left, were unable to advance the ball far enough to get a good look at the basket for a final shot attempt.

"It was really exciting (to get back into the game)," said Mahinay, who hit a clutch 3-pointer last week against Antioch that helped force that game into an overtime. "But we have to know game situations and we didn't run that final play like Coach (Kathi Swanson) wanted."

The Lake Forest rebound off the missed free throw essentially told the story of the game. The Scouts pounded Grant on the boards, rolling up 15 offensive rebounds that led to second-chance points.

"We don't usually get as many offensive rebounds as we got today," said Lake Forest forward Maeve Summerville, who finished with a game-high 16 points and 13 rebounds. "I feel like we were being more aggressive inside. I know I was trying harder to get offensive rebounds. The guards were trying, too. That was a major difference in the game."

Lake Forest had three other players reach double-figures. Ellie Pearson had 12 points while Olivia Douglass and Salanty each finished with 10 points. Salanty had three 3-pointers.

"(The comeback) was a positive, but in the end, it's too little, too late," Swanson said. "We refused to come out with energy and we didn't do the little things. If you don't do the little things, you'll lose against anybody.

"We needed to get that last rebound (off the missed free throw). You don't get the rebound, you can't get (a final) shot. But that was the story of our night. We didn't rebound."