Cary-Grove dumps McHenry

Stifling defense and just enough offensive production.

Holding McHenry scoreless for 15 minutes, 24 seconds Cary-Grove was able to post a 39-28 win in Fox Valley Conference girls basketball action Tuesday in Cary.

"Our defense was very good tonight," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "We made them take tough shots. We had a lot of kids contribute offensively. This conference is crazy. Anybody can beat anybody."\

The Trojans, 15-11 overall, move to 10-5 in conference action. A win Friday at home against Crystal Lake South will give the Trojans at least a share of the FVC championship.

McHenry's Madi Kaempf scored on a layup with 3:53 left in the first half to give the Warriors a 17-16 lead. McHenry, which went the third quarter without a point, didn't score again until the 4:29 mark of the fourth quarter when Isabelle Gscheidle canned a 3-pointer to break the long scoring drought.

Taking advantage of McHenry's offensive woes, the Trojans scored 18 unanswered points.

With Becca Kendeigh scoring 5 points including a 3-pointer, Cary-Grove outscored the visiting Warriors 9-0 in the third quarter and led 27-17 after 24 minutes.

With Katie Sowa scoring 4 points including 2-of-2 from the free throw line along with 3 free throws from Maddie Gorz, Cary-Grove scored the first 7 points of the fourth quarter and led 34-17 with 5:08 remaining in the contest.

Cary-Grove's biggest advantage was 39-21 with 1:45 left after a layup from Kendeigh off a perfect dish from Abby Getka.

The Trojans' defense held McHenry's top two players Gscheidle (6 points,) and Liz Alsot (5 points) to 11 points. Madi Kaempf paced the Warriors with 10 points including a pair of treys.

"Our defensive game plan was to stop Izzy and Liz and we did a great job on them," said Sowa."We really work hard in practice on defense and it paid off tonight. It was a great effort defensively. Everybody contributed, We control our own destiny. We are excited about playing South Friday at home for senior night."

Gorz led the Trojans with 12 points, including a pair of 3s, both in the first quarter.

"Maddie did a great job of getting us going in the first quarter with a couple of 3s," said Saffert. "She is a good shooter and she loosened up their defense."

Sowa added 10 points with 8 rebounds and 3 assists while Kendeigh scored 8, all in the second half, with a 3-pointer.