Rolling Meadows edges Maine West - in a game befitting Kipp

Twenty eight years ago, Jim O'Boye got a phone call on a Sunday afternoon from Maine West girls basketball coach Derril Kipp.

Kipp had heard that O'Boye was looking to start a shootout.

"I was on the fence a little about starting it," O'Boye said. "But he said it's a great idea. He said he supported it totally. He said we're trying to promote girls basketball and continue its growth and 'You should do this.' "

With the help of Kipp and others, O'Boye's shootout began the next year and Monday was the 27th edition of what today is called the Subway Classic.

"Next year, the name of shootout will in some way have the name 'Derril Kipp' in it," said O'Boye paying tribute to Kipp, a Hall of Fame coach who passed away this July after coaching the Maine West girls for 35 years.

Before those West girls and Rolling Meadows took the court on Monday, O'Boye was joined by Derril's wife Marianne, her son-in-law, grandson, Jerry Stonequist and Mary Dankowski.

"There wasn't a thing that happened in the Maine West summer league operations that Mary and Stony weren't involved in," O'Boye told the crowd. "These three people pushed girls basketball in the community and in the state beyond anything it's seen."

And not many programs have seen a coach like Derril Kipp, whose former team (17-3) hooked up with Rolling Meadows (15-6) in a thrilling game won by the Mustangs 45-44.

"That was awesome," said Maine West coach Kim deMarigny about O'Boye's Classic getting renamed for next year. "Derril had such an impact on girls basketball in this state. It's a great way to represent what he's meant to the sport in Illinois."

Monday's game superbly represented the sport with fast-paced, entertaining play all the way.

Meadows trailed 19-9 with under a minute to go in the first quarter but went on a 14-3 run to close the half leading 23-22.

"It's crazy," said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "In our game on Saturday (won 84-59 over Niles West) we were down 10-1 and we told our kids in a timeout (on Saturday) that we were in the same position again. We told them they just had to do it again on the defensive end."

That's exactly what the Mustangs did. The only points they gave up in the final nine minutes of the first half were on a 3-point play by Maine West sophomore Rachel Kent.

"When we are behind, we realize what we have to lose and we start to play with more passion," said Meadows senior forward Morgan Campagna, who led her team with 15 points and 5 rebounds. "When we start slow, we know we just have to go after it and we can't stop."

Kent's 3-point play actually gave West the lead back 22-21 late in the first half but Campagna's layup with 1:05 left made it 23-22 at intermission.

Senior Katherine Nolan tossed home a 3-pointer for the first points of the third quarter to give Meadows a 26-22 lead which it built to 41-32 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Alexa Davis.

But the Warriors weren't ready to fold.

They charged back to within 43-41 on a pair of free throws from junior Jessica Riedl with 2:53 left.

Campagna's layup kicked the lead back up to 45-41 with 1:07 left before junior Alisa Fallon hit a 3-pointer with 29.7 seconds remaining to make it 45-44.

Meadows twice missed the front end of bonuses giving West a few more chances but the Warriors couldn't convert.

"We didn't quit," deMarigny said. "The girls were down by nine but fought to come back. The could have let down but didn't. That's the sign of a good team developing. We're still young and we haven't been in these situations too much."

Fallon finished with a game-high 20 points along with 9 rebounds.

"She's a player," deMarigny said. "She comes to play the game and plays it well.

"Jessica (Riedl) did a great job on No. 32 (Nolan, who had 3 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists). She did exactly what we wanted."

Melissa Spiwak chipped in 10 points for Meadows while her sister Kyra added 9. Davis had 5 points. Natalie Anderson and Nolan each hit 3-pointers.

"Rolling Meadows has so many weapons," deMarigny added. "They're a great team and they've played a strong schedule. We can't take anything away from them."

The Warriors did take away more rebounds, owning a 27-20 edge, led by freshman Angela Dugalic's 13. She also had 10 points, including eight in the first six minutes of the game.

Teammates Kent and Allison Pearson each added 5 points while Riedl had 4 points with 3 rebounds.

"Maine West is a tremendous team," Kirkorsky said of the Hoffman Estates and Dundee-Crown tourney champs. "They provided us some tough matchups. So I was impressed with how our kids kept battling."