Lake Zurich 47, Mundelein 46
Lake Zurich junior Lydia Bauer is pretty easy to spot on the basketball court. She's one of the tallest players on the Bears roster, and her blond hair and bright white smile make her hard to miss.
Add in the fact that she is the best player on Lake Zurich's team and you can see why Bauer is easy to spot.
For some reason, and Mundelein coach Brian Evans is still trying to figure this one out, the Mustangs couldn't seem to find Bauer in the fourth quarter of Friday night's North Suburban Lake contest at Lake Zurich.
When the Mustangs finally located the 6-footer, it was too late.
Bauer scored 11 of her season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter including a trio of 3-pointers, to help Lake Zurich hold off Mundelein 47-46.
"What I can't fathom is how we somehow lost track of Lydia Bauer," Evans said. "I thought we played pretty good defense most of the night, but for some reason we seemed to lose her in the fourth quarter."
Lake Zurich (7-2, 2-1) needed everything Bauer had in the final eight minutes as the visiting Mustangs simply wouldn't go away.
Mundelein (7-2, 1-1) pulled out to a 39-35 advantage after a 3-pointer from Toni Knar (8 points) with just 3:04 to play in regulation. Following a Bears timeout, Bauer started to find her shot.
Some 30 seconds later, Bauer drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the margin to 39-38. It was the beginning of a stretch that saw Bauer score nine straight points.
"Lydia is beginning to understand how to take over the game," Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said. "When we got into trouble, she took over."
The last bucket of the 9-point burst by Bauer came with 1:30 to play on a perfect skip pass from Peggie Parhas. Bauer was all alone from the right wing again and drained her second 3-pointer of the quarter to give the Bears the lead for good at 43-41.
"I think our team is real good and finding who is on and getting them the ball," Bauer said. "We wanted this win so much tonight and we really gave it our all and came out on top."
Mundelein had its chance in the final seconds to tie and even win the game. A bucket by Sam Panitch (9 points) and a free throw from Kelsey O'Connor, who led the Mustangs with 12 points, pulled Mundelein within 47-46 with eight seconds to play. But a final shot attempt from Knar was blocked by Parhas to give the Bears the win.
"We started a little lackadaisical and our attitude and intensity wasn't where we wanted it," Evans said. "But the good news is we adjusted some at halftime with our attitude and intensity and played a good second half."