Wrap: Wave roars back, tops St. Francis

St. Francis held its biggest lead at 7 heading into the game's final three minutes.

It turned out, however, that St. Edward was just getting started.

The Green Wave dropped a 12-0 run on the home team to pull out a 43-38 girls basketball victory in a Suburban Catholic Conference opener Friday in Wheaton.

"That fourth quarter I think they really found the fight again," St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson said of her players. "They picked up their aggressiveness on the boards, on defense. That's what got us back into it.

"These girls aren't going to die. They're not going to give up. I give them a lot of credit for finding that extra strength and that extra will to come back."

Katie Yohn fueled the comeback for the winners. The 5-foot-11 junior guard delivered 10 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.

"I think we really buckled down and started playing good defense," Yohn said. "And we took care of the ball a lot better than what we were doing."

The Green Wave (3-1, 1-0) had 22 turnovers on the night, but only 1 in the final quarter.

St. Francis (4-2, 0-1) put itself in good position with a 9-2 run in the fourth quarter that produced a 37-30 lead.

But Spartans point guard Catherine Culligan fouled out with 2:32 remaining, and St. Edward followed with 10 answered points to move ahead 42-37.

"I think two times right after that 7-point lead we just took the ball and threw it out of bounds to nobody," St. Francis coach Leslie Fay-Dehn said. "When your point guard goes out of the game with fouls it makes it harder.

"Having Catherine out of the game is tough because she is a leader and the kids know that, so I think they have a little bit of panic when she's not bringing the ball down the floor. We've got to come together as a team. We can't just depend all on her."

The Spartans committed 28 turnovers.

A lot of them came during a horrendous start. St. Francis turned the ball over five times before it took its first shot and wound up missing its first 16 field-goal attempts.

Yet the Spartans held a 19-16 edge at intermission after closing the first half with an 11-0 spree.

"That's a tough loss," Fay-Dehn said. "There was no lack of effort. The kids definitely put in effort. I couldn't believe we were up at the half."

But St. Edward came back behind Yohn's 15 points in the second half. Her offensive production was especially important considering senior center Celeste VonAhnen spent much of the contest in foul trouble. She finished with 9 points.

Girls basketball

Schaumburg 51, Hoffman Estates 37: While it wasn't the prettiest game offensively, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg battled in a typical MSL game. 32 minutes of aggressive, fast paced basketball that would tip in favor of the Saxons with a 51-37 win at home on Friday night.

Both Hoffman and Schaumburg had their struggles on offense with an array of missed opportunities close to the basket. On a night that looked like defense would rule, Schaumburg senior Drewann Pancratz would lift the Saxons offensively with 30 points.

"Drew picked up her teammates offensively and our defense held up the entire game so I'm happy for that and the win," said head coach William Murmann.

For Pancratz, 20 of those 30 points came in the second half as she also played a key role in assists for the game.

"We came out focused for this one. We wanted to concentrate on moving that ball around and I think as a whole our team did a great job of that," said Pancratz.

Schaumburg also received offensive contributions from seniors Kylie Castans and Gabby Blackwell, both scoring 10 points on the night.

Hoffman kept up with the Saxons in the fourth quarter scoring 17 of their 37 points. Sophomore Megan Baradoni finished with a team high 14 points, 10 of which came in a row as the Hawks attempted a comeback before the half. Hoffman's other top scorers were freshmen Jada Stotts who had 8 points and junior Carol King who scored 7.

Schaumburg concentrated early on defending Hoffman junior and offensive standout, Megan Fischer. Kylie Castans would play a key role in holding Fischer to 6 points for the game.

"This was one of the best games defensively for us so far," said Mermann. "Kylie did a great job guarding Fischer who is normally their leading scorer."

It appears as though the "rivalry well" won't be running dry between these two MSL teams anytime soon. Schaumburg had motivation going into this game that stemmed back to this past summer.

"Hoffman beat us in summer league so we've been looking forward to this game for a while," said Pancratz. "It feels good to get this win."

-- Todd Mrowice

Boys basketball

Burlington Central nabs a win in OT: Trailing throughout the first half, Burlington Central (3-1) took a second half lead, but could not hold on as they watched Genoa-Kingston bounce back from a 7-point deficit in the final minutes of play with 3 consecutive shots from behind the arc to end regulation a 68-68 tie.

Behind a 29-point performance from Mike McCurdy who led all offensive efforts, the Rockets outscored Genoa 13-to-10 in overtime for the nonconference win.

"The kids hung in there," said BC coach Chris Payne. "They showed a lot of composure in overtime not letting the comeback get to them."

Also scoring in the double digits for Burlington were Jake McNutt (18 points, five 3-pointers), Jason Wagner (19 points) and Shane Larkin (10 points).

Hampshire 58, Oregon 56: Even after three quarters, Hampshire (2-2) recorded the winning basket in the final quarter of this nonconference contest to earn the 58-56 victory. T.J. Burzak led the Whip-Pur offensive attack with 22 points. Justin Bieber added 14 points, and Mike Kozenczak contributed with 9 points en route to the win.

Mary Institute of St. Louis 72, Elgin Academy 36: Despite a 10-point performance from Jeff Moeller, Elgin Academy (1-5) dropped this nonconference meeting with Mary Institute of St. Louis.

Walther Lutheran 54, Westminster Christian 49: Westminster Christian (2-2, 0-1) put up a good fight, but came out on the losing end of this Private School League match-up. Joel Benson led all scoring efforts with 22 points, and Tyler Beachler added double-digit offense with 15 points.

Girls basketball

Mary Institute of St. Louis 53, Elgin Academy 31: Falling behind early, Elgin Academy (2-6) was unable to bounce back in this nonconference loss to Mary Institute of St. Louis. Lauren Steimle led the Hilltopper offense with 10 points. Allison Clark added 8 points, and Alyssa Pena scored 6 points.

Wrestling

Dundee-Crown d. Huntley: With wins from Miko Villanueva (103 pounds), Phil Roos (119), Jermaine Lee (125), Cody Muscat (130), Jack Lewis (135), Mike Rust (140), Austin Tanner (145), Ryan Horcher (152), Justin Walden (171), Roney Dumas (215) and Mike Lukowski (275), Dundee-Crown (7-0) remains unbeaten.

Lewis, Tanner, Walden and Dumas each recorded pins.

For Huntley, Coty Claudio (112), Jordon Bakley (160) and Tony Benning (189) each recorded individual victories.

Men's basketball

Judson 90, Indiana University-Northwest 62: After an early 21-4 first half run, Judson (4-3) never looked back in this nonconference win over Indiana. For the seventh consecutive game this season, DeWayne Robinson scored over 20 points with 27 to lead all scorers. He also led the Eagles on the boards pulling down 9 rebounds. Ilija Bojanic added 17 points en route to the win.

Women's basketball

Judson 96, Indiana University-Northwest 20: In opening action of the Judson Tournament, the Eagles (3-5) ran away with a 96-20 win over Indiana. The 96 points was the most scored since Judson defeated Principia 101-65 in the 2005-06 season.

Leading offensive efforts for the Eagles were Theresa Larson (14 points), Devonaye Henderson with 13 points and 12 rebounds, her first double-double of the year and Ashley Cheairs (11 points).