Wheeling finishes the job

Wheeling led 31-9 late in the first half of Thursday's Mid-Suburban League East Division girls basketball showdown against Buffalo Grove.

But don't think for a second the Wildcats thought the game was over while playing in front of their home crowd of more than 2,000.

The hosts were well aware they led 21-6 the first time at BG and lost 43-34.

"We knew what happened at their home," said Wildcats sophomore guard Janelle Cannon (23 points and 8 rebounds). "We played only two quarters. We had to come out and play to the end this time and we did."

The Wildcats withstood a formidable Bison rally to post a 57-49 victory, maintaining at least a 7-point lead throughout the third quarter.

Wheeling extended the advantage to 12 early in the fourth and then pulled out its first win over BG in the teams' last five meetings to move into a first-place tie with the Bison in the East.

Both teams are 7-1, and Wheeling (22-3) can clinch its first appearance in the Mid-Suburban League title game by winning each of its final two conference games by 7 or more points.

Ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, Buffalo Grove (23-2) battled to within 5 points when Maggie Mocchi's layup made it 54-49 with 1:55 remaining.

With 1:44 left, Loyola-bound Ellen Ayoub (14 points, 9 rebounds) fouled out.

BG had a chance to cut the lead from 5 when Kaitlin Hillner stole the ball with 30 seconds left.

But Cannon stole the ball back at the other end of the floor, then drove the length of the court for a driving 10-foot bank shot that made it 57-49 with 18 seconds left, virtually sealing the Wildcats' win.

"We just did a better job on defense in the second half than we did the first time against them," said Purdue- bound Ashley Wilson, who added 15 points and 20 rebounds. "We had a few lapses in the second half, but we got it back and held our composure."

Ayoub and teammate Maggie Mocchi each committed 4 fouls within 14 minutes left.

"We knew they had 4 fouls each so we were trying to take it at them," Wilson said. "We knew we had a better chance if they weren't in the game."

"Foul trouble has been getting the better of us," said Bison coach Tom Dineen, who saw Maggie Mocchi and Ayoub foul out and Katie Lee and Allison Mocchi finish with 4 fouls. "And tonight it got us again. We put ourselves in the position to make it a one-possession game and then we turned the ball over."

Maggie Mocchi led the Bison with 17 points, while her twin sister Allison added 15.

Lee came off the bench and hit BG's first bucket of the fourth quarter.

But Wilson answered with a drive through the lane to make it 45-33.

Bianca Szafarowicz added 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for Wheeling (No. 10 in Class 4A) and Natasha Robinson had 6 points and 9 rebounds.

"We had four quarters of solid effort," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel. "Buffalo Grove made a great run at the end. They are a great team. But we were able sustain our effort and have different people step up."

Dineen, who saw his team miss 17 of its first 19 shots, including several from close range, and he put the blame on himself.

"I took too many things for granted," he said. "I did not have us prepared. Its just disappointing that with all the big games and strong competitions we've had that we didn't give it a good shot.

"It's getting sort of old. We didn't play real well against Elk Grove on Tuesday giving up 60 points. Then we almost give up 60 again. You can't expect to win giving up that many points, especially so many inside."