Dunigan leads Mundelein; Grant wins

The athletics ability is already there for 5-foot-9 freshman Olivia Dunigan of Mundelein.

But what coach Brian Evans can't wait to see is what happens when her basketball skills meet up with her athleticism.

"That is what I really can't wait to see, and we see flashes of it every day," Evans said. "When all of those things come together, she can be a real good player."

Wednesday night the Mustangs and their fans got a glimpse of what the next three-plus years may turn out to be for Dunigan.

As the second player off the bench, Dunigan contributed a season-high 14 points, 3 steals and 5 rebounds to help the Mustangs roll to a 63-27 win over Belvidere at the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic.

Dunigan and the rest of the Mustangs will face Conant at 8 p.m. today on the final day of pool play.

As impressive as Dunigan and the Mustangs were, it took Mundelein (11-3) a little more than a quarter to shake the pesky Bucs. The Mustangs held a 22-12 lead after just one quarter, and led by just 8 points in the second before finally putting together a run.

Mundelein used a 13-0 burst, fueled by 6 points from Dunigan and 4 from Kelsey O'Connor (9 points) to take the lead over 20 points and keep it there the rest of the evening. Points for the Mustangs came very unselfishly, as 13 of the Mustangs' 18 first-half baskets came off assists.

"This group is incredibly unselfish," Evans said. "It gets to the point where they sometimes overpass. It's like they find a good shot but they are looking for an even better one."

Once the second half came around, the Mustangs had all the points they needed. That meant they could turn things over to their defense.

"I thought we played good defense in the second half -- much better than in the first half," Evans said. "We gave up how many, 12 points in the first quarter and 15 the rest of the way? We need to be better from the start."

The second half opened with J.J. Sawchuk and the Mustang defense taking control. To go with her 14 points, Sawchuk was also a major factor on defense with 6 steals.

Mundelein held Belvidere to just 2 field goals in the third quarter and only 6 points in the entire second half.

-- Jeff Newton

Grant 71, Prosser 25: It was safe to assume that Grant coach Tom Oeffling was not sure what type of performance he would get out of his Bulldogs in a matinee contest against Chicago Prosser at the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic on Wednesday.

The contest came just two days after a less-than-pleasing Christmas eve practice.

"Our Christmas eve practice didn't go well," Oeffling said. "We just weren't going hard and we were sluggish."

After shooting a sizzling 67 percent in an opening quarter that saw his team blow out to a 31-1 lead, Oeffling couldn't have been more pleased.

Grant carried on after the big first quarter and never let up, winning 71-25 over the Lady Falcons to improve to 2-0 in the tournament. The Bulldogs continue action at 9 a.m. today against Libertyville.

"Our first quarter we just shot lights out," Oeffling said. "(Tori) Ziegler got going then it was Jamie (Swanson), then it was everyone. We just couldn't miss."

Actually, Grant (11-2) did miss on occasion, but even when the Bulldogs found the iron unkind, they were still able to make up for it on the defensive end. Grant forced 13 turnovers in the first half and allowed only 5 field goals.

Prosser (6-8) outscored Grant 12-8 in the second quarter, but it only prolonged the inevitable as the Bulldogs made a 39-13 halftime edge worse in the third quarter.

"I thought after the first quarter we didn't play as well in the second quarter," Oeffling said. "I think we reestablished ourselves in the third quarter."

Ziegler did most of her damage in the first half, scoring 16 of her 20 points. The second half and primarily the third quarter belonged to Swanson. The senior scored 9 of her game-high 22 points, including a stretch where she hit 7 straight shots.

Grant held Prosser without a field goal in the third quarter until there were less than two minutes remaining. By then the margin had eclipsed 30 points.

-- Jeff Newton

Waukegan 67, VH 49: Rommel Drake got a belated Christmas gift Wednesday.

The greatest gift.

The wife of Waukegan's girls basketball coach gave birth to a son.

Tiffany Drake went into labor at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and had a quick delivery, her husband said. The proud new dad then hustled to Mundelein for a noon game and coached his Bulldogs to a 67-49 win over Vernon Hills in second-round action of the Mundelein holiday tournament.

"It was all good," Drake said. "The girls were all excited seeing me walk in (the gym)."

Bianca Jarrett scored a game-high 20 points to lead Waukegan, which improved to 13-4 overall and 2-0 at Mundelein.

"It was a good win," Drake said. "The kids came out and played. We were a lot quicker than (Vernon Hills)."

Vernon Hills (5-9, 0-2) turned the ball over 27 times.

"It was tough from the standpoint that we didn't play very well," Cougars coach Paul Brettner said. "We threw the ball all over the place. (That's) two games in a row with almost 30 turnovers in each. At this point of the season it shouldn't happen. (Waukegan's) style is something we're not used to, but we should be able to adjust to it throughout the game."

Danasha Jenkins scored 6 of her 16 points in the opening quarter, helping Waukegan grab an 18-8 advantage.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 28-13 with 3:45 remaining in the second quarter on a Jenkins steal and layup.

Vernon Hills manufactured an 8-0 run to close the half, with Jamie Rucks' short jumper with 45 seconds left making it 28-21.

The Cougars' Alana Coy hit a shot early in the third quarter, cutting the Bulldogs' lead to 28-23, but Vernon Hills couldn't get any closer.

Jarrett scored 6 points during a 21-9 run that put the Bulldogs comfortably ahead 49-32 by the end of the third quarter.

Vernon Hills' Mallory Fleece had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Coy finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Brianna Skeens dished out 5 assists.

The Cougars will finish pool play against Payton at 5 p.m. Thursday at Mundelein.

-- Rusty Silber

Libertyville 42, PR 39: At Mundelein, the Wildcats rallied from a 29-26 deficit after three quarters to edge Prairie Ridge.

Casey Hopper scored 8 of her 13 points in the pivotal fourth quarter for Libertyville (8-7, 2-0).

Ali Haws also scored 13 points for the Wildcats. Megan White had all 4 of her points in the fourth quarter.

Prairie Ridge received 14 points from Shannon Hennelly and 12 from Emily Murphy.

Huntley 44, Payton 23: At Mundelein, Katie Bergquist scored 13 points for the Red Raiders.

RM 39, GBN 35: At Mundelein, Alexa Bennett scored 13 points and Liezl Aluquin added 10 for Rolling Meadows.

Glenbrook North was led by Jessica Ponticelli's 12 points and Jenna Walllis' 10.

Cary-Grove 49, Z-B 47: At Mundelein, the Trojans came back from a 37-34 deficit after three quarters.

Jill Cole had 20 points for Cary-Grove and Danielle Smith added 18.

Brittany Simmons had 18 points for Zion-Benton and Abby Hanson scored 14.