Lakes 70, St. Scholastica 21

At last, the Lakes girls basketball team can say they've got a winning streak.

Sure, it's only one win, but it's a big one.

In a regional quarterfinal game held at Lakes, the No. 18-seeded Eagles won the program's first-ever varsity game Monday night, snapping an 83-game losing streak as they poured it on visiting No. 14 St. Scholastica 70-21 in the opening game of the Class 3A Grayslake sectional.

"This is what we've been working for the three years," said Lakes center Mandy Schellinger. "As a senior, I'm glad we can see our first win after working for it the whole time."

The victory meant so much to the team that it set up for a team picture on the floor -- and then doused Lakes coach Liz Hinkle.

The Eagles (1-27) didn't hold back in earning the first win over St. Scholastica (9-19).

"They worked hard this year and persevered," Hinkle said. "My seniors had years where they persevered and hung in there. The team played well, and we had the size and took care of the basketball. We did what we needed to with the game plan."

Schellinger led Lakes with 21 points and Sarah Spicer added 14 points and 7 rebounds. Also Amber Larson chipped in with 11 and 14 rebounds, Alyssa Mol had 6 and pulled down 9 boards.

"I've been waiting for this over the last two years and have been working hard to get this victory," said Spicer, another senior. "We think about it every day about getting a win. Nobody in the stands thought we could do it."

Everything was going in the right direction for Lakes from the beginning of the game. Kate La Tour picked off the first pass from the Stingers in the opening seconds.

Lakes' Kristi Bennecke hit a 10-foot jumper off the glass in the waning seconds of the first quarter to give the Eagles a 10-5 lead.

The Eagles scored 19 straight unanswered points in the second quarter, probably a first in its three-year history.

Spicer and Schellinger combined for 16 of them and Lakes outscored the Stingers 23-4 and led 33-9 at the half.

"A little bit before the first half the girls on the bench were getting excited about it," Hinkle said. "You can tell they knew they were going to win.

"At half, I told them, this is why you've got the lead -- the game isn't over and we have to make sure to keep it up."

Lakes played the same way in the second half as the first and didn't let up at all opening the margin to 49-15 by the end of the third quarter.

The Eagles next play No. 3 seed Regina, back at Lakes starting at 6 p.m. today. Antioch will face Grayslake Central at 8 p.m. at the same site.

Stevenson 62, Barrington 47: Stevenson's girls basketball team remembered a 45-39 loss to Barrington in December.

"Our defense wasn't as aggressive then and we knew we had to pressure the ball, create turnovers and score off them this time," said Patriots junior guard Kayla Fisher.

The No. 13-seeded Patriots succeeded in those areas Monday night in the play-in game of their own regional and came away with a 62-47 triumph over the No. 20 Fillies (5-25).

Stevenson (12-19) will face will face No. 4 seed Grant in today's semifinal.

"Overall, I thought we played with a lot of fire," said Fisher, who scored 13 points, one behind team leader Caitlin Morrissey. (14). "It was fun."

Fisher's 17-footer staked the hosts to an 8-3 lead midway through the first quarter and the lead grew to 22-6 when classmate Courtney Graber (9 points) made a steal and layup with 3:45 left in the first half.

"Courtney did an excellent job controlling the tempo of things," said Patriots coach Trish Betthauser. "We had very good balanced scoring. Caitlin (Morrissey) has shown so much improvement from the start of the season. And she is a better rebounder than people give her credit for.

"Kayla had a real nice game and Kelsey Simon (6-foot-1 sophomore with 6 points) played big tonight, making 3 of 5 shots from the field."

Anna Morrissey added 8 points for the winners while Claire Moller chipped in 6.

"We did much better defensively in the first half." Betthauser added "It was more typical of the way we've been playing lately. We were pressuring the ball and setting the tempo defensively.

"In the second half, we let (Samantha)Beach (14 points) take control. She had a lot of good drives to the basket."

Palatine 37, Libertyville 29: It took three bonus rounds and 30 extra shots for Palatine senior Sarah Iuorio to advance past teammate Joslin Loyd on Monday in the opening round of the IHSA 3-point contest.

When Iuorio walked off the court, coach Ron Theberge was there with a message.

"I told her to save some for the game," he said.

She did, and that's why she has more than a shooting contest to look forward to.

Iuorio hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and was 3-for-4 from the line to help Palatine to a 37-29 victory over Libertyville in a regional quarterfinal at Warren. The Pirates will play Warren at 6 p.m. today.

Iuorio finished with three 3-pointers and scored 9 of her team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter.

"I told the team this wasn't going to be our last game," she said. "We played hard and were aggressive."

The execution was inconsistent (42 total turnovers), but not the effort. Palatine (10-21), the No. 9 seed, and No. 14 Libertyville (13-17) battled throughout. The best evidence was a long scramble for the ball in the fourth quarter where just about every player was on the floor.

"We talked about how Libertyville is physical and plays hard," Theberge said. "We were very aggressive."

Libertyville led 8-0 and did not allow a field goal until Iuorio hit a 3-pointer with about 12 seconds left in the first quarter. Junior Casey Hopper scored 8 of her game-high 13 points in the opening quarter.

"We got off to a nice start, but Palatine slowed us down and got us into a halfcourt game," Wildcats coach Kathie Swanson said. "That's when we started to struggle."

Palatine limited Libertyville to two baskets in the second quarter and led 16-14 at halftime. The margin was still at 2 points after three quarters, but the Pirates pulled away by holding Libertyville to one 3-pointer over the final 4:25.

Palatine junior Katelyn MacFabe had 9 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Senior Dana Eriksen hit two 3-pointers for Libertyville.

Warren, the No. 3 seed, defeated Palatine 58-40 when the teams met Dec. 22.

-- Bob Gosman

Deerfield 62, Zion-Benton 44:ŒDani Ripkey scored 24 points to help Deerfield advance to tonight's regional semifinal at Buffalo Grove.

The No. 17 Warriors will take on top-seeded Buffalo Grove. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

Abby Hanson had 21 points for Zion-Benton.