Pieper, Neary help Vernon Hills outscore Wheeling
Playing without standout Kayla Caudle, sidelined by an ankle injury, Vernon Hills' girls basketball team came from behind to leg out a 60-57 victory over visiting Wheeling on Monday.
The Wildcats raced out to a 9-1 lead and were still out in front 32-20 at the half.
Long-range shooting prowess helped turned the tide in Vernon Hills' favor in the second half. Nicole Pieper and Julia Neary combined to hit seven 3s in the third quarter as the Cougars took a 44-42 lead.
It was close through the fourth quarter, with Vernon Hills making its free throws to keep Wheeling at bay.
Pieper finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, and Neary totaled 13 points. Mackenzie Mahler contributed 10 points and 4 rebounds, and Piper Bedell had 10 points and 6 boards.
"The first half was not our best basketball but we found our stride in the third quarter," said Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner. "The girls overcame some basketball adversity and a number of kids stepped up."
The Cougars improved to 14-7 overall.
Mundelein 47, Zion-Benton 41: Morgan Frank scored 16 points, Kendall Klatt added 14, and the Mustangs won the North Suburban Conference matchup hosted by the Zee-Bees.
Hannah Buscher had 10 points for Mundelein (8-16, 3-8).
Wauconda 67, Highland Park 49: Wauconda got a huge game out of Allie Tylka to cruise to a nonconference victory and score its most points of the season.
Tylka poured in 27 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
The Bulldogs also got double-figures out of two other players.
Po Kimbell had 12 points while Kiley Szmajda had 10 points. Morgan Lung added 11 rebounds for Wauconda, which got out to a 19-5 first-quarter lead and also put together a big third quarter.
"We finally put together a good first quarter," Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis said. "We let up a little bit in the second and let them back in. We are usually digging out of a hole in the second quarter and didn't really know how to play with the lead, but got things back on track in the second half."
Wauconda, which moves to 11-10 on the season, rolled up a season-high 16 assists as a team. Ella Karg picked up 5 of those assists.