Warriors regroup in Tip-Off opener

Mary Kusner said her Maine West girls basketball team took one look at its opponent Wednesday and probably became overconfident.

"They (Stevenson) were shorter than us and their one tall girl (6-foot-1 sophomore Kelsey Simon) did not have a lot of experience, so we thought we could walk all over them," Kusner said. "Plus, we're always confident when we're on our home-court. But we can't do that. I think we were too confident in the first half."

The Warriors led 11-2 after one quarter but Stevenson climbed back into contention and trailed 20-13 at the break.

The Warriors regrouped, though, and led by as many as 18 points in the second half before registering a 46-32 triumph in the opening round of the Maine West Tip-Off Classic.

"The first half was not too good but we turned it around in the second," said Kusner, who turned in a game-high 18 points with 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

"Mary did a nice job," said Maine West coach Derril Kipp, who played 15 girls. "She is going to be a lot better than last season. She and Brittany (Begrowicz, all-area forward) are going to be big keys for us."

Begrowicz, recovering from knee surgery in July, was used sparingly and contributed 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Sophomore Samantha Acosta chipped in 10 points while Colleen Vana contributed 4 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.

A layup by Kusner and 3-pointer by Erin Baumstark gave West (3-0, 1-0) a 5-0 lead before Chelsea Jacobsen's layup gave Stevenson (0-2, 0-1) its only points in the first nine minutes.

"We haven't proven that we are a great perimeter shooting team but I think we have the potential to be," said Stevenson coach Trish Betthauser. "I think this can be one of our better teams if our young kids start to come along."

Claire Moller (4 rebounds), Caitlin Morrissey and Kelly Miskewicz each scored 6 points for Stevenson while Kayla Fisher (3 rebounds) chipped in 5.

"I thought our three seniors who are in their first year on the varsity (Gabby Gordon, Annamarie Cassata and Tovah Schwartz) really helped make things happen," Betthauser said. "And Kelly Miskewicz gave us a lift in the second quarter (3-pointer)."

Simon hit a 14-footer in the fourth quarter.

"Kelsey is playing her first year of basketball for us," Betthauser said. "She was a pom pon last year. She is a talented young lady."

Evanston 55, Hersey 37:ΠEvanston went long distance in the first quarter with five 3-pointers to grab a 17-7 lead.

The Wildkits (3-1, 1-0) did not dial up another 3 the rest of the way but still prevailed in the first-round game.

Hersey (1-1, 0-1) hurt itself by going scoreless from 6:30 of the second quarter to 3:27 of third when senior Kwin Irelan (2 steals) made a free throw. By that time, Evanston led 36-13.

"We were weak handling the basketball in the first half," said Huskies senior guard Sarah Stoltzner. "We weren't setting up our offense. They hit the 3-pointers in the first quarter and that probably got our spirits down."

Freshman Megan Rogowski led the Huskies for the second straight game with 13 points and 5 assists while Stoltzner added 12 points.

"We picked it up a bit in the fourth quarter with some steals," said Huskies senior Amanda Slove. "We were just behind by too much and could not get back in the game."

Coach Steve Wool's Wildkits, who have also notched wins against Fremd and Northside Prep while falling to Chicago Public League power Whitney Young, was led by senior guard Darcel Retreage's 13 points including three 3-pointers.

"We didn't give up any 3s after that first quarter," Slove added. "We talked about screening out at the top of the key. We put pressure on them out there."

"We adjusted," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "But we made so many turnovers it was hard to get anything going. At least in the fourth quarter we looked a little better."

The Huskies outscored Evanston 18-15 in the final eight minutes.

Evanston converted 14 of 17 free throws while the Huskies were 1-of-5 from the line.

Senior Emma Kuhns pulled down 5 rebounds for Hersey and classmate Maggie Tunney had 4.