ECC Topps McHenry, 65-57
It was top-notch play from the Elgin Community College women's basketball team Thursday night that concluded McHenry's season with a 65-57 victory in Round 1 of the District K Playoffs.
Ariana Topps, to be exact.
The Spartans opened the game with an 8-0 run that included 4 points from Topps -- who finished with a game-high 22 points while pulling down 10 rebounds to complete her double-double.
Winning their fifth game in a row and avenging last year's Division K semifinal loss to McHenry, the Spartans advanced to meet Waubonsee Community College on Saturday at noon at Triton College in River Grove. Waubonsee beat Prairie State 76-71 Thursday.
Topps recorded 14 first-half points to go with 5 early rebounds. In one stretch, she hit 12 consecutive points.
"Ariana had a really strong game," said ECC coach Jerry McLaughlin. "As a team we had a good first half, but McHenry made adjustments to Ariana in the second half and we struggled a bit to keep our flow."
Fortunately for ECC, an 11-point halftime lead at 32-21 would keep them afloat, as the Spartans overcame late defensive changes from the Scots.
Dominating the first half and leading by as many as 15 points with eight minutes left before intermission, both Jessica Turnage (10 points) and De'Larissa Morris (8 points, 6 assists) made timely contributions.
Both were also effective underneath. Turnage tallied 7 rebounds, while Morris finished with 4 boards and a block.
Finishing with 11 points, Karin Herrera came up big in the second half by recording 8 points late.
McHenry (13-18) made it a game, cutting the lead to 7 points with 10 minutes remaining, and again with two minutes left.
With just 5 points in the first half, Heide Reeves (3 rebounds, 3 steals) sparked the Scots' late rally, scoring 11 points en route to a team-high 16 points.
Despite pressure from the Spartans, the Scots' Lisa Beyer added 12 points.
"I thought we did a good job of stopping Beyer," McLaughlin said. "Jamie Jara played excellent defense for us."
Lyndsey Thompson (9 points, 10 rebounds) and Catherine Martin (8 points, 8 rebounds) picked up where Beyer left off, and Sarah Knutson had a huge second half for the Scots with 9 points and 5 rebounds.
For ECC, Meghan Staley-Gamble (8 points, 3 rebounds) and Cristin MacCarthy (6 points) both came off the bench to add timely offense in the second half.
"I was pleased with our team balance," McLaughlin said. "We did a good job of keeping balance between inside and outside shooting. We won this one as a team."