Rockets, Whip-Purs tune up for showdown with wins

Burlington Central's defensive and offensive schemes were about as slick as the roads the Rockets traveled to Streamwood for a 56-42 nonconference girls basketball win Tuesday night.

Alternating between man coverage and a zone defense, the Rockets kept Streamwood on their toes offensively, often dismissing the Sabres' attempts to get on top.

Streamwood led early, responding to a Cory Bazany game-opening basket with 6 unanswered points to go up 6-2, but would trail for the remainder of the night.

Bazany and sophomore guard Jordan Maisto (11 points, 7 steals) would alternate offensive first quarter efforts to turn things around, giving the Rockets a 15-10 lead.

"Jordan plays better than a sophomore," said Burlington coach Darlene Guyett. "She took care of the ball down the stretch when we needed her to, and hit some timely shots for us.

"Our post play was another key."

After the first 16 minutes of play, it remained anyone's game as Streamwood trailed the Rockets by just 9 points at 30-21 despite 13 first-half steals by Burlington.

The bulk of the Sabres' highlights came via freshman Emma Schmidt, who led the team with 16 points.

"Anytime you get 16 points out of a freshman, it's great," said Sabres coach George Rosner. "Emma established herself as a force inside scoring 16. This was her most consistent game."

Burlington Central (5-3) started to pull away early in the second half, scoring 6 points before Streamwood (0-7) had an opportunity.

Bazany, who led all scorers with 21 points, scored on a nice feed from Brianna Conran, and followed that up with 2 more points off of a Streamwood turnover.

"We got off to a good start, but they got to us and we started turning the ball over," said Rosner. "I felt good at the half, but the third quarter was the turning point of the game."

When all was said and done, Streamwood had turned the ball over 28 times.

"We've got to handle the ball better," Rosner said. "The turnovers we are committing are fixable. We just need to put it together.

"Burlington has a couple of really nice players. They had three players scoring in double figures who they can count on in any game."

In addition to Bazany's big game, junior Melanie Laird added 13 points, 5 blocks, 2 steals and 7 rebounds to the Burlington attack.

For Streamwood, Danielle Cizowski contributed with 6 points and Krissy Kunavich racked up 5 points. Melissa Oehlerking had a big day on the boards for the Sabres pulling down 7 rebounds.

"Streamwood played tough," said Guyett, whose team hosts Hampshire Friday night. "We like to face them because they have to compete in every match. They always give us a great nonconference contest.

"I was very happy with our overall performance, and was very pleased with our defense. Offensively, we are showing a ton of progress."

Hampshire 47, Stillman Valley 26: Alfred Hitchcock would have been disappointed. Hampshire removed all the suspense early, racing out to a 19-2 lead after one quarter and coasting past Stillman Valley, 47-26, in a Big Northern crossover in Stillman.

Mallory Koster scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the big first period as the Whip-Purs scored the game's first 12 points. The Cardinals didn't get on the board until 1:27 remained in the first quarter.

"We've been trying to address coming out of the locker room ready to play," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett, whose team travels to Burlington Central Friday night. "We blanketed them on defense and took them out of some of the things they wanted to do."

Koster also had 8 rebounds and a block for Hampshire. Chrissy Heine added 11 points. Cassie Dumoulin contributed 8 points and 8 rebounds.

Val McKnight led Stillman Valley with 8 points, 6 coming at the line.

Koster scored on drives, post-ups, putbacks, and even a 3-pointer.

"If they'd allow her to, she'd walk around the halls with a basketball and she'd be shooting in the hallway," said Ellett. "Any free moment she's got, she's shooting and working on different shots."

Hampshire (5-2) led 29-13 at halftime. The Whips led by many as 26 in the fourth quarter before Ellett cleared the bench.

The Whips shot 48 percent from the field in the first half and 42 percent for the game while holding the Cardinals to 22 percent accuracy.

-- Allen Oshinski

Waubonsie Valley 68, Elgin 37: Waubonsie Valley took early leads of 9-0 and 17-3 in the first quarter of its girls basketball game Tuesday night against Elgin and never looked back, cruising to a 68-37 victory over the Maroons in Aurora.

The Warriors looked sharp right out of the gate, paced by senior Erin Decker's 5 first-quarter points. Waubonsie Valley (8-0, 1-0 Upstate Eight Conference) held a football-like 24-7 lead after eight minutes of play.

Though the Warriors let Elgin (0-7, 0-1) hang around a bit in the second quarter, Waubonsie Valley headed to halftime ahead by 20 points.

Even with the 20-point halftime advantage, Warriors coach Kris Kalivas found an aspect of her team's game to improve in the second half.

"I was a little disappointed in our defensive effort in the first half," Kalivas said. "I thought that we struggled a little bit giving up some penetration to the basket, so I was not happy with that, but … not a whole lot to complain about other than that."

Most of Elgin's dribble penetration came courtesy of junior point guard Caris Alan, who bobbed and weaved her way to 12 of her team's 29 first-half points.

"She played the hardest tonight, and she was, I felt, the only one that really showed up for us offensively and defensively," Maroons coach Angie Hudson said. "She's our girl that can drive, dish and pass, and she came to play tonight. It was nice to see her not give up or anything no matter what the score was."

Alan showed her tenacity even as her team trailed by more than 20 points in the fourth quarter, eventually picking up her fifth foul midway through period. Hudson would like to see the rest of her team emulate Alan's effort.

"We haven't had all five players showing up and playing all 32 minutes. That's been our big thing," Hudson said. "Hopefully, we'll get the 32 minutes together, with five kids playing together at one time."

Balance once again fueled Waubonsie Valley's offense, with three Warriors notching double digits in points. Junior forward Brittany Upshaw led Waubonsie Valley with 13, while seniors Lauren Brownridge and Decker contributed 11 and 10, respectively.

"I thought we were pretty balanced this evening," Kalivas said. "I thought the bench did a real nice job maintaining the lead that we had.

"We don't miss much once we sub."

-- Matthew McClarey