Whips leave Geneva with some confidence
Things could have gone either way for the Hampshire girls basketball team this weekend. To Whip-Purs' coach Sue Ellett's delight, they went the right way.
Hampshire erased a 4-point halftime deficit by outscoring Antioch 22-9 in the third quarter on its way to a 59-44 win in the fifth-place game of the 20th Annual Geneva Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday afternoon.
"The last few years we've come out of here pretty beat up physically and mentally," said Ellett. "This year we're coming out of here with confidence. I'm really excited coming out of the Geneva tournament for the first time in a long time."
As she should be. After a 20-point loss to Rosary to open the tournament, the Whips (3-2) fell to runner-up Providence by 9 before coming back to beat Wheaton North Friday and Antioch Saturday.
Senior Mallory Koster led the way for the Whips again in Saturday's win, scoring 17 points and nailing two huge 3-pointers early in the third quarter to spark the Whips' winning surge.
But it was Koster's supporting cast that really got the job done, while overcoming some adversity. Ellett was never informed that junior point guard Gianina Estocado had picked up her third foul in the second quarter. When Estocado got No. 4 with 3:19 to go in the half, Ellett was forced to sit her court general until well into the fourth quarter.
The spark the Whips needed came from juniors Cassie Dumoulin and Kelsey Watson, who each stepped up to lead their team. Dumoulin scored 13 points, had 5 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists while Watson delivered with 12 points -- 10 in the second half -- and 7 rebounds. Junior Kelly Plichta played another solid floor game and sophomore Chrissy Heine contributed with 8 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals.
"My sophomores and juniors are turning into pretty good (Class 2A) players," Ellett beamed, knowing full well the competition at Geneva is more important than the record.
Antioch (1-3) controlled much of the physical first half, leading by as many as 7 points late in the second quarter but Hampshire went on a 5-2 run to end the half, closing to within 4 on Dumoulin's bucket with nine seconds left.
"The team just decided we all needed to pick up our game," said Dumoulin of playing without Estocado on the floor. "Paffy (Kristy Pfaffinger) came in and did a great job, Mallory came up with those quick shots and Kelly Pilchta gave it her all on defense. If one person isn't having a good day we all pick each other up. It's fun to play that way."
The Whips, who shot just 2 of 13 in the first quarter but 19 of 31 the rest of the way, came out on a 16-4 run to start the third quarter with Watson scoring 8 of those points. After Koster hit 2 free throws with 1:20 left in the third to make it 43-35, Antioch never got closer.
"We were more aggressive than they were in the first half and then they came out strong in the second half they came out aggressive and we didn't respond," said Antioch coach Tim Borries.
Senior Christine Gaborek led the Sequoits, who shot 16 of 55, with 11 points while Andi Potkonjak and Brittany Deen had 8 points each.
Girls basketball
Crystal Lake South 49, Barrington 44: Crystal Lake South (3-2) rallied from a 10-point deficit (33-23) with under 10 seconds in the third quarter to pull out a 49-44 victory over Barrington at the Bison Classic.
The big rally started when junior Jessica Taldone hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the third quarter.
The Gators took the lead for good at 38-37 when sophomore Michelle Gaede hit a 16-footer with three minutes left in the game.
Junior Carly Juliano, an all-tourney selection, led the Gators with 16 points while Gaede added 12 and Taldone 9.
"I think our kids just thought they could play with an air of confidence in that fourth quarter," said CLS coach Kyle McCaughn. "They knew it was "now or never " time and they just played with more intensity."
-- John Leusch
Conant 41, Huntley 31: Coryn Marzejon scored 20 of Huntley's 31 points but the Red Raiders still fell to Conant in final round play of the Warhawk Tournament.
South Elgin 56, Leyden 40: Genevieve Johnson led the Storm (2-4) with 13 points in this win over Leyden at the Fenton Tournament. Alexa Kruel also put up 10 points to contribute to South Elgin's victory.
Plainfield South 69, Bartlett 65: Rachael Anello collected 21 points to keep the Hawks battling all the way into overtime but Plainfield South prevailed in the end at the Naperville Central/Benet tournament.. Alexa Tovella (11 points) and Jacki Gulczynski (9 points) contributed for the Hawks (0-5).
Paw Paw 42, Elgin Academy 26: Elgin Academy (2-3) fell short against Paw Paw on the final day of the EA tournament. Kyla Farquhar led the Hilltoppers with 8 points, Lauren Steimle added 5 points and Bianca Swegler had 7 blocked shots.
St. Edward 2nd at Dakota: St. Edward (2-1) finished second at the Dakota tournament, falling to Byron 56-40 in the championship game. Katie Yohn, who made the all-tournament team, led the Green Wave with 17 points. Kelly Knott added 8.
In a 46-40 win over River Ridge in the semifinals, Yohn and Celeste Von Ahnen led the Wave with 15 points each.
Plainfield Central 48, Larkin 41: The Royals (0-5) fell to Plainfield Central at the Hinsdale South tournament. Larkin's Alyssa Burns scored 23 of the Royals' points and had 6 steals and 5 rebounds.
"It was a tight game we were up 21-19 at the half, we had a lot of opportunities in the fourth quarter but we had a total of 26 turnovers, eight of which came in the last 2 minutes which hurt us," Larkin coach Amy Silverman said.