Schaumburg 59, Proviso East 42
So how do you recover from a 9-0 deficit less than two minutes into a game?
How about with a 19-2 run?
That was Schaumburg's answer to Proviso East's dynamic start in Tuesday's Class 4A girls basketball sectional semifinal game at Lake Park in Roselle.
And after grabbing the 19-11 lead with 32 seconds left in the first quarter, the No. 2 seeded Saxons made sure there would be no more serious runs by the No. 3 Pirates (24-6).
The Mid-Suburban West co-champs (28-5) went on to post a 59-42 triumph, advancing to Thursday championship game against top-seeded Fenwick (28-5).
Seniors Drewann Pancratz (6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Kylie Castans (7 rebounds) led the Saxons with 17 points apiece while Gabrielle Blackwell (14 rebounds, 4 assists) added 10 points.
"At the start I think their big lead made us think, 'hey, they're going to be playing hard,' and this could be our last game," Blackwell said.
Down 9-0, Schaumburg coach Bill Murmann called a timeout and the Saxons got the message.
"We just started clicking," Blackwell said. "We picked up the defense and on offense, we started running our plays and getting opens looks."
Pancratz's 3-pointer got the Saxons to within 9-6 and they went ahead for good at 13-11 on her 2 free throws.
Castans completed the big rally with back-to-back 3s.
"During the timeout, we just regrouped," Pancratz said. "We knew we had to come out and play Schaumburg basketball.
"We let down those first two minutes. We know we have five seniors (Gryte Satas and Kaitlin Marchock the other two) who have been playing together since sixth grade and we didn't want it to end like that."
Instead, the Saxons ended Proviso East's fourth straight 20-win season under coach Robert Thomas.
His two stars, Western Michigan recruits Miame Giden and Robin Giden, average 20 and 12 points respectively. The Saxons held them to 8 and 9 points.
Schaumburg led 50-31 after three quarters. Proviso East never got closer than 15 points the final quarter.
"They executed down the stretch and weathered the storm," Thomas said. "This game was very uncharacteristic of us. Normally we don't play well at the start, then real well in the second half.
Murmann was well aware of that tendency.
"I reminded our girls that every time we heard about Proviso East it was about how they're a second-half team," he said. "So our kids were ready for that in the third quarter (Saxons outscored Pirates 18-9). They knew they had to play four quarters. They knew they (Proviso East would make a run at them)."
Satas finished with 6 points and 6 rebounds while sophomore point guard Taylor Kosla scored 8 points with 3 steals.
The Saxons were never seriously threatened in the final three quarters to land a spot in the sectional title game for the third straight year.
"We just played really well as a team," Pancratz said. "Our rebounding was huge, with Kylie, Gryte and Gabby (Blackwell). Everyone played well."