Hendrickson, Carmel prevail
Leadership could be the key to a successful season for the Carmel Catholic girls basketball team.
One of the team's returning seniors, Tiffany Hendrickson, poured in 22 points and led the Corsairs back from a 7-point deficit late in the third quarter on Monday night. Carmel went on to win its season opener 49-40 over Grayslake North in the opening game of the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Turkey Shootout.
Hendrickson scored 6 of her team's 8 unanswered points over the final two minutes of the third quarter as Carmel went ahead 35-34.
"I just wanted to shoot, shoot, shoot and eventually (the shots) started falling," said Hendrickson, who was 9 of 19 from the field and pulled down 9 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot.
"I just got into a rhythm. We were a little frustrated and worked through it."
In the final quarter, the senior leadership of Hendrickson, Lauren Lahocky (11 points) and Jenna Korte (7 points) made the difference as the Corsairs outscored the Knights 14-6.
"I told the girls to stick with it, the shots will fall," said Carmel coach Ben Berg, whose team was 16-for-43 from the field. "The difference in the game was in the fourth quarter we got some defensive stops and we hit a few shots at the other end.
"All our seniors, Tiffany, Lauren and Jenna, are all returning players and it made a little bit of a difference at the end of the game. I thought (Grayslake North) did a great job and they've got a couple of girls that can shoot the ball."
The Knights fell behind the Corsairs after the first quarter trailing 17-10. But the Knights scored 10 straight to open the second quarter as Kelsi Leith had a rebound and putback for a 20-17 lead with 2:25 remaining.
Grayslake North led 24-23 at halftime and went on a 10-4 run in the third quarter for a 34-27 lead. The Knights' Lauren Erikson scored 5 of her team-high 10 points during the run.
"Playing 32 minutes with a young team like we have will be a challenge," Grayslake North coach Jim Sarver said. "I think we showed we're real athletic. We can shoot the ball. We can defend. Now we've got to show we can play 32 minutes.
"In our first game, we may have gotten tired. Carmel is experienced - they're big and physical. I thought we matched them."