Wauconda's rally falls short against Grant
The first girls basketball game played in Wauconda's new gym proved to be a pretty exciting one when all was said and done Saturday afternoon.
In a battle of Bulldogs, visiting Grant built a commanding 33-11 lead over the hosts midway through the second quarter. Wauconda battled back before falling short in this North Suburban Conference Prairie Division contest.
Wauconda (3-2, 1-1) cut the Grant lead to 53-48 on a steal and basket by sophomore guard Kate Martino with 31 seconds to play, but 2 free throws by Grant's Bailey Wagner sealed a 55-48 victory with 19.5 seconds remaining.
Grant (6-1, 2-0) started out on fire offensively as senior Jamie Swanson's third 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 25-6 lead with 42 seconds left in the opening period.
An inside basket by Grant's Heather Chapman extended the lead to 28-7 early in the second quarter before Wauconda cut the gap to 39-20 at halftime.
"In the first half we were still a little intimidated by Grant as a program, but in the second half we played a lot better," said Wauconda coach Tim Bartusch, whose team trailed 49-32 after three quarters. "(Kristin) Brown did a nice job sparking us off the bench and I'm just glad we came back in the second half, we showed some character, and we got after Grant a little bit."
Wauconda began to chip away at Grant's big lead when Martino (13 points) hit a 3-pointer to make the score 49-35 with 7:48 to play.
Then Wauconda senior Courtney Kimes hit a 3-pointer to cut the gap to 53-41 with 1:33 to play before Martino hit her second 3-pointer to close to within 53-46 with 44 seconds to go.
Grant put its starters back into the game in an effort to preserve the victory, but Martino came up with her big steal and basket to give the visiting Bulldogs a real scare in the closing moments.
"We had a great first quarter and then we got in foul trouble," said Grant coach Tom Oeffling. "We came out flat in the second half, we got in more foul trouble, and we allowed them to get back in the game."
Swanson scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the first half while teammates Tori Ziegler (12 points), and Wagner (10 points) also reached double figures in scoring.
Lauren Mead joined Martino with 13 points each for Wauconda while Kimes hit double figures with 10 points.
"We always start out strong and a lot of girls contributed," said Swanson, who had four fouls overall. "They (Wauconda) played very physical and they played a good game."
Grant has a big non-conference showdown when it hosts fourth-ranked Wheeling on Tuesday night.
"Our starting five has a lot of experience so that helps, but they're not playing a smart brand of basketball right now," said Oeffling. "I was happy with her (Swanson's) scoring, but not with her fouls because she does not help the team when she is on the bench."