Comeback catches Fenton
Rolling Meadows clawed back to stay within striking distance of Fenton in the first half of a girls basketball game Wednesday and fought to stay within striking distance again in the second half.
And then, just in time, Maddy Urban struck.
Urban hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the game to give Rolling Meadows its first lead since early in the contest, and the junior stole a Fenton pass with four seconds left to clinch her squad's 36-35 comeback win in Bensenville.
"On the sophomore team I hit a few big free throws, but that was nothing like this," Urban said. "I hesitated on two other (3-pointers) during the game, and they were telling me to shoot it, so when I got the 3 I just took it.
"On the steal I just gambled and was able to get to it."
Fenton led 12-7 after a quarter behind a spark and 5 points provided by Stephanie Pingel, a 3 from Samantha Rubright and a Brittany Potenza 15-footer.
Fenton (11-9) held a 21-12 second-quarter lead before Rolling Meadows (6-13) went on a 7-0 run that featured 5 points from Shannon McGuire and then an Urban steal and coast-to-coast lay-up just before the halftime buzzer.
"We stayed together as a team and came back from it," Urban said. "You just can't worry about the score. We had to play it basket by basket."
McGuire shined throughout for the Mustangs, leading all scorers with 14 points while also posting 7 rebounds and 6 steals.
"She played really well, and those steals were key for us," Rolling Meadows coach Pat O'Connell said.
The Bison outscored the Mustangs 4-2 in the third quarter and went up 32-25 in the fourth on a 12-foot, pull-up jump shot by Tricia Chiamas. That's when the Mustangs' Alexa Bennett buried a 3, and Paulina Gurbisz made it 32-30 with an easy basket underneath.
"We looked sluggish and slow in the second half," said Fenton coach Tim Anderson. "But give (Rolling Meadows) credit. They stepped up and hit some big shots down the stretch."
After a pair of Chiamas free throws, McGuire hit a 3 from the corner to cut Fenton's lead to 34-33, before Urban's big shot from behind the arc put the Mustangs up for good.
A free throw with 13 seconds left to play by Fenton's Mia Sansone made it 36-35, but the Bison had six fouls to give before they finally sent the Mustangs to the free-throw line with only 4.4 seconds left to play.
The Bison rebounded the missed Mustangs' free throw, but their outlet pass found Urban's hands and the game was over.
"We scored 2 points in the third quarter, and instead of crying about it we just kept playing hard," O'Connell said. "We kept playing defense and tried to do the things that we do well."