Buffalo Grove 43, Wheeling 34
One day after being the subject of a feature on the Channel 2 news at 5 p.m., Buffalo Grove's nationally-ranked girl basketball team delivered a made-for-TV rally in its biggest game of the season.
Down 11-2 after one quarter and then 21-6 with under three minutes to go in the first half, the state's No. 1 Class 4A team rallied for a 43-34 triumph on Friday night over No. 4 Wheeling before a packed house in the Buffalo Grove gymnasium.
A 17-footer by Bianca Szafarowicz, 2 free throws by Ashley Wilson, a layup by Lana Rukavina and steal and layup by Janelle Cannon (8 points, 6 rebounds) had the Wildcats (9-2, 1-1) enjoying a 21-6 lead in the Mid-Suburban East battle.
Buffalo Grove's 62-game home winning streak was in jeopardy.
"I thought I better call a timeout and go home," said Bison coach Tom Dineen.
Instead, the Bison (9-0, 2-0) came back on the floor and cut the deficit to 21-11 by half.
"I told the kids we were on our home court and after scoring only 11 points, they had to take some pride," Dineen said. "They hadn't lost here in three years."
The Bison got the message.
Taking advantage of 10 turnovers in the third quarter, they outscored the Wildcats 15-3 and found themselves right back in the game.
With BG trailing 24-23, Maggie Mocchi (9 points, 5 rebounds) grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup and 3-point play to give the Bison their first lead at 26-24 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.
Allison Mocchi (10 points, 6 rebounds) scored BG's first three baskets of the final quarter.
After 2 free throws by Stephanie Kuzmanic tied the game at 28-28, Allison Mocchi drove one-on-one with her defender to basket for a bank shot and 30-28 lead to put BG ahead for good.
Moments later, after a turnover by Wheeling (14 in the second half), Allison Mocchi grabbed a rebound and went coast to coast for a layup and 32-28 lead.
"We were living and dying by the 3-pointer in the first half," Allison Mocchi said. "We talked at half about how we have an all around-game and better use it. We can shoot outside but we can drive, too."
Jessie Smith's 3-pointer cut it to 32-31 with 4:49 left but that's as close as Wheeling would get.
Ellen Ayoub's 3-pointer started the Bison on an 11-3 run to end the game.
"We wanted to make them handle the ball and put pressure on them in second half," Ayoub said. "We wanted to get into the passing lanes and stop their high-low."
Heather Nisbet (8 points), Lauren Angotti (4 rebounds, 2 points) and Kaitlin Hillner also chipped in big efforts for BG.
Ayoub said she was not in panic mode when her team trailed by 15.
"I never questioned that we could come back," she said. "We've scored a lot of points in a short amount of time before."
"This was a huge win. We always want to go 10-0 in the conference. And we wanted to put in their minds that we can win the division."
Wheeling was led by Illinois-bound Rukavina's 10 points and 10 rebounds. Future D-I prospect Wilson scored 6 points with 5 rebounds.
"When you have two Big Ten posts and you're not getting calls, it makes it tough," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel. "I thought we were running our offense in the second half. I thought there was a lot of contact but we weren't getting to the line."
Wiegel was not happy with her club's turnovers.
"Our decision-making was bad at times and Buffalo Grove capitalized. Fourteen turnovers in a half is unacceptable on the varsity level. We'll learn from this. You don't win the state championship tonight. So we're OK."
Dineen was OK with his team's second-half effort.
"Outstanding defensive effort," Dineen said. "We made a few little adjustments and I thought the kids responded very well. Our first quarter was awful and our second wasn't much better. We could have folded but these kids are veterans and they've been there before."