Experience makes a difference for BG

Perhaps there really is no substitute for being there before.

After Nika Sircher's clutch 3-pointer trimmed what was a 15-point, third-quarter deficit to 6 at 43-37 with 2:23 remaining, it appeared that momentum was finally starting to shift toward St. Charles North (23-6) during Monday night's Class 4A girls basketball supersectional contest.

From there, however, Buffalo Grove (32-3) closed the game with a 7-2 run -- all on free throws from Allison Mocchi, Maggie Mocchi and Ellen Ayoub, pulling away for a hard-fought, 50-39 victory at Elgin Community College.

While securing the team's third downstate appearance in four years, Buffalo Grove's terrific trio combined for 39 points, 19 rebounds, 10 steals, 9 assists and 7 blocked shots.

"Obviously, they have a great group with the Mocchis and Ellen (Ayoub)," said 6-4 junior center Kelsey Smith, who led the North Stars with 15 points and 6 rebounds while often facing double- and triple-team pressure from the Bison. "This is their third time going downstate. They know how it's done and they know how it works."

Buffalo Grove coach Tom Dineen agreed.

"These kids -- they've won 120 games (123-19 record the last 4 years)," said Dineen, who pocketed his ninth supersectional title and 676th career victory in 29 years at Buffalo Grove.

"I told their coach (St. Charles North's Katie Sauber) that they have a nice, young team. They're going to be back but our experience was a big difference, especially here down at the end. We didn't make too many mistakes down the stretch."

Using their frontcourt size advantage, the Bison also pounded the ball down low during crunch time.

"We had a couple favorable matchups and I thought we did a nice job in the second half taking advantage of those," said Dineen. "I think our size, with the twins (Mocchi sisters) down on the block -- we did a good job of doing that."

Despite the size disadvantage, the North Stars were only outrebounded 26-25. But the Bison forced 19 St. Charles North turnovers, which helped account for their 23-10 points-off-turnovers edge.

"They're just very athletic," said North Stars senior Caitlin Winkelman, who recorded a team-high 8 rebounds. "They're a senior-heavy team and I think experience plays a big factor, plus they have some strong, athletic players."

Sauber was diplomatic in defeat.

"We lost to a great team," said the coach. "If we're going to lose to someone, we want to lose to the top team in the state."

"I hope that we're going to be able to use this game to kind of get experience for next year," added Smith. "They've (Bison) lost their first game downstate twice so now we kind of know how that feels. "Hopefully, we'll be able to say that we lost to the state champions at supersectionals."