Tierney turns game in Elk Grove's favor

Thankfully for Elk Grove's girls basketball team, freshman Isabella Tierney remembered her father's advice.

With the game tied 47-47 and 35 seconds left, Tierney found herself with the basketball and a clear shot from 3-point land near the top of the key.

"I was nervous," said the 5-foot-8 freshman guard. "I knew I'd been missing my shots but my dad always tells me to keep shooting, so I took it."

It was perfect and gave the Grenadiers a 50-47 lead that held up as the decisive basket in Elk Grove's 52-47 comeback win over visiting Bartlett in the nonconference matinee.

Isabella's advice happened to come from someone who knows about shooting. Her father, Mike, was one of the sharpshooters for Conant's 1994 Elite Eight stated-ranked boys basketball team which won 27 games.

Isabella's big shot gave her 11 points off the bench, including five in the fourth quarter as Elk Grove outscored Bartlett 16-2.

"I told Isabella I was holding my breath on that shot," said Grenadiers coach Jen Buxton. "But at same time, she is a good 3-point shooter. She was determined to come back from (Friday night's 63-43 loss to Rolling Meadows) and to step up and hitting that shot showed her determination to get better each game."

The Grenadiers were determined in the fourth quarter when they limited the Hawks to just one basket, a rebound layup by freshman Justina Hernandez that gave her team 47-45 lead with 2:32 left.

A rebound 6-footer by Rachel Kandefer (15 rebounds, 8 points) tied the game at 47-47 with 1:10 remaining.

"We were talking about playing with energy in that last quarter," Tierney said. "The last few games we had been down on it and I think our bench cheering us on and being so supportive really helped."

Sophomore Megan Murray helped with her game-high 19 points, which equaled her career-high.

The sophomore guard also 6 assists and four 3-pointers (one shy of her personal best vs Lake Forest Academy, when she also scored 19 points).

"That point guard (Murray) is really something, she's really good," said Hawks coach Brad Hunt, whose team is 5-3. "I tell you, Elk Grove is a very good team. They're not the normal Elk Grove of the years past. Their coach (Buxton) does a really god job with them."

Buxton readjusted the Grens into a man-to-man defense late in the game.

"To be honest, in the fourth quarter we let No. 4 (senior Kayla Hare, who led the Hawks with 18 points and four 3-pointers) get loose for open shots a couple of times," Buxton said.

"We came out of our timeout (with 7:05 left) and readjusted, going from a 2-3 zone to man-to-man. I thought our kids did well with that change and we had some kids finish and hit some big shots. If you look at our scorebook, there were a lot of people stepping up off the bench."

Sophomore Kaitlyn Ingebrigtsen scored 6 points off the bench, including a big 6-footer from the baseline which tied the game at 45-45 with 3:27 left.

Bartlett converted seven 3-pointers in the game, including two from junior Teagan Noesen (10 points) and one from freshman Alexis Sinclair (6 points).

Hernandez finished with 8 points while Danielle Kellman and Savannah Standefer each had a bucket for the Hawks.

"We took some shots (in the fourth quarter) that we normally make and we didn't knock them down and they capitalized," Hunt said. "This was a great learning experience. Losses can either be devastating, or you can take it and learn from it. We're an awfully young team. We're going to go back to work on Monday and get better from it."

Hare's three 3-pointers in the third quarter helped the Hawks own a 15-7 edge in those eight minutes and gain a 45-36 lead heading into the final quarter.

"She's a senior, and all-stater," Hunt said of Hare. "She's very, very good. I was proud of Justina. She did a really good job. She kind of took over in the middle. Unfortunately we gave up a couple of offensive rebounds and stuff like that, but my kids played hard. We just didn't execute like we normally can."

The Grens (5-5) are back at .500 heading into Tuesday's nonconference game at Fenton, which is coached by Grenadiers alum Dave Mello.

"This was a really good win for us," Murray added. "It's till early in the season so this helps get us going."

"We allowed some open 3-pointers but we allowed it to be just one shot and we got the rebound," Buxton said. "Rachel was huge with those 15 rebounds.

"They went into the 1-3-1 and we were able to settle down, which was huge. I was just really proud of how the girls came back from the night before. We were not happy with our performance in our conference game (Friday).

"So to come back focused and get a win against a good team, the girls are excited and we are proud of them."