Grant 55, Willowbrook 38
It took until the third quarter, but Grant's experience and height finally swallowed up Willowbrook.
The young Warriors hung tough with Grant for two quarters Friday at the 18th annual McDonald's Shootout in Villa Park, but the Bulldogs, ranked ninth in the Daily Herald Top 20, dominated the third and earned a 55-38 victory.
"The key was defense," Grant coach Tom Oeffling said. "We didn't do a very good job of getting out on defense (in the first half). I don't know her (name), but 24 (Taylor Nelson), she hurt us, had those three 3s. … We did a better job with that the second half. That was a big difference."
Willowbrook led until the very end of the first quarter and trailed 28-24 at halftime as Nelson scored 11 of her team-high 13 points. The Warriors looked like they weren't going to go away when they started the third quarter with an Angela Domin 3-pointer.
Then the roof caved in.
"We came out on fire in the third quarter," said Grant senior Jamie Swanson, who scored 20 and grabbed 7 rebounds. "We knew after the first half they had some shooters."
By the time Willowbrook scored again, Grant (20-2) had rung up 16 consecutive points, in large part because the Bulldogs' defense forced 6 turnovers during the run, 26 for the game.
"It'd be nice to have three 6-foot kids at the top of a 1-2-2," Willowbrook coach Troy Nelson said. "We just didn't make good decisions. When you're 5-6 and you're getting trapped by two 6-foot kids, you can't throw the ball over the top. You've got to get rid of it. You've got to score. We didn't, and we didn't for the entire second half. Believe it or not we do practice. I know it didn't look like it, but we do."
Autumn Gaylor added 16 points and Heather Ruetsche 13 for Grant.
"The kids came out with some guts. We had the lead for a lot of the first half," Nelson said. "All we can do is just keep trying to get better and hopefully by the end of the season we'll better in those pressure situations, because right now we're playing like a young team, like we are."
Johnsburg 63, Grayslake N. 55 (OT): The Skyhawks outscored the Knights 12-4 in overtime to win the Fox Valley Fox Division game.
Grayslake North (9-11, 2-2) wad led by Elizabeth Phillips, who had 21 points and 9 rebounds. Natalie Barczyk added 17 points.
Michelle McDonald had 26 points for Johnsburg.
Prairie Ridge 62, Grayslake Central 55: Alison Metzger and Megan LeBaron each had 12 points for the Rams in their Fox Valley Fox Division loss.
Rachel Culp added 10 for Grayslake Central (5-15, 1-3), and Katelyn Putkonen scored 8.
Jackie Schwartz had 20 points for Prairie Ridge.