Castans, Saxons enjoy the moment

It seemed like a fairly routine shot when Kylie Castans lined up and made the first of a 1-and-1 from the free throw line.

But it was a lot more than that.

That point turned out to be Castans' 1,000th of her varsity girls basketball career.

"I had no idea," said Castans, a senior who was recognized for the milestone and presented with the game ball. "(Coach Bill) Murmann didn't tell me anything about it, so I was as surprised as you were. I felt great about it -- it was exciting."

She didn't rest there either.

Castans went on to score 26 points and lead the Saxons to a 74-52 win over Glenbrook South in the Schaumburg tournament. She also led the Saxons with 12 rebounds.

"Anytime you score 1,000 points in a high school career it's outstanding," Murmann said. "The fact that she scored 1,000 this early is just outstanding. As great of an athlete as she is, she's just a good person."

The Saxons (3-0) played a solid first half that included several runs on the Titans.

But in the third quarter, the game took on a frenzied pace, and a free throw by Glenbrook South's Caitlin Staniec (13) midway through cut the Saxons' lead to just 39-38.

But Schaumburg adjusted, took advantage of some Glenbrook South fouls, and then the Saxons' offense took off.

"We kind of bought into their style of play (in the third quarter) and got away from our style of play," Murmann said. "What happened was we adapted their style of play and succeeded at it."

For the rest of the game, the Saxons outscored the Titans 35-14. During that stretch, Gabrielle Blackwell scored 13 or her 23 points. She also had 11 rebounds.

"I'm exhausted right now," Blackwell said. "As a team, we did a good job. Our offense in the fourth quarter was amazing."

"When crunch time came, Kylie and (Blackwell) really stepped up and took over the game offensively," Murmann said. "Obviously, when you score 74 points you're going to have kids scoring a lot of points.

"But my real unsung hero for this game is Rachael Kahan. She came in and played the majority of the game. We put her on (Glenbrook South's) Erin Cepa. Rachael did an excellent job of guarding and controlling. Erin is capable of scoring a lot of points."

Cepa, a 3-point threat, was held to two 3s and 8 points for the Titans (2-1). Lauren Athas scored 10 off the bench for Glenbrook South.

Another adjustment the Saxons had to make was filling in for Taylor Kosla, who sprained her ankle in Thursday's game.

"We were thrown a little bit out of synch because Taylor didn't start at point guard," Murmann said. "Drewann (Pancratz) has never played point guard before, she's always been an off guard. Overall, she did pretty well."

Pancratz scored 16, 7 of which came in the first quarter when the Saxons outscored the Titans 18-7.

"Glenbrook South is always very well prepared and well-coached," Murmann said. "It was a very physical game, which we enjoy."

Schaumburg's next game in the tournament is 8 p.m. Tuesday against Rockford Boylan.