BG blasts off to victory
Buffalo Grove girls basketball coach Tom Dineen says he is having a blast coaching this year's Bison.
Thursday night on their home court, it was as if the host Bison were blasted out of a cannon.
They exploded to a 26-2 lead in less than seven minutes en route to a 76-32 Mid-Suburban League East Division victory over a Prospect team that entered the game with an 8-3 record.
Ellen Ayoub scored a game-high 16 points and Maggie Mocchi added 15 as the Class 4A state's No. 1 team (10-0, 3-0) won for the 34th straight time on its own floor.
BG's last defeat at home came against Mary Fendley's Hersey Huskies in the 2003-04 campaign.
"I enjoy going to practice every day and being around these kids two to three hours a day," said Dineen, who played all 12 girls.
"Our starting five have a contagious effect on the rest of our kids. I tell them (reserves) they go against five of the best players in the state every day in practice, so it should be easy for them in games. I thought the kids who came off the bench played very well."
After Megan Murray hit a bank shot for Prospect (8-4, 1-2), BG scored 26 unanswered points, including two 3-pointers by Maggie Mocchi and one apiece from Allison Mocchi and Kaitlin Hillner.
"When Megan made that first shot, we felt pretty confident," said Prospect coach Martha Kelly. "Then they slowly chipped away at us. They close in on you so fast with their defense, it makes it hard to get shots off.
"They shoot and they don't miss. They got hands on all our passes. They're known for their offense, but they do a good job on defense, too."
Angotti, Heather Nisbet, freshman Kelly Mahoney and freshman Andrea DiPrima also had 3-pointers as the Bison converted nine for the game.
"It's fun to support our subs," Maggie Mocchi said. "We play against them every day in practice so it's fun to see them do so well out there."
Reserve guard Katie Lee grabbed a loose ball which started a fastbreak completed by Allison Mocchi (10 points) to give BG a 40-11 lead. A free throw by Lee later made it 44-11 before Prospect senior Katie Dyer scored back-to-back buckets.
"Katie Dyer stepped up," Kelly said. "She wasn't afraid to shoot. She played scrappy defense and took the ball to the basket.
"Three of our 4 losses are to ranked teams (BG, Wheeling and Maine South) so I told our girls to keep their heads up. We have some good things to take from this which will only make us better later."
"I've seen Prospect three times and she (Kelly) has them doing nice things," Dineen said. "They play hard, are aggressive and rebound well for their size."