Knights' Erickson gladly shoulders rebounding role

Lauren Erickson showed off her rebounding prowess Tuesday.

Which is something her Grayslake North basketball team likely will need her to do often this season.

The junior forward grabbed 14 rebounds, including a couple of clutch boards late, as the Knights pulled out a 39-36 win over Rolling Meadows in the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Turkey Shootout.

Erickson also scored a game-high 11 points.

Grayslake North had opened its season 24 hours earlier with a loss to Carmel at Mundelein.

At 5-feet-9, Erickson is actually one of the Knights' tallest players.

"We lost a lot of our height (to graduation)," Erickson said. "I just feel like I've got to attack the boards the best I can. My team motivates me and helps me keep my head up."

Rolling Meadows (0-1), which trailed 16-0 after one quarter, missed a layup and 3-pointer in the game's final 20 seconds. Erickson's 2 rebounds helped the Knights hang on for their first win.

"We didn't get a lot of the hustle rebounds until the last two and that made the difference," Grayslake North coach Jim Sarver said. "Having such a young team, we need that strong aggressive player to get the rebounds.

"Give credit to Lauren. She put the rebound load on her shoulders and got them."

After being shut out in the opening eight minutes of play, Rolling Meadows regrouped. The Mustangs used a 22-point second quarter to tie the game going into halftime.

"We did everything we could to make it interesting," Meadows first-year coach Todd Hatfield said. "We played two quarters, but it's going to take more than two to win a ballgame."

Grayslake North started the second half with 9 unanswered points to take a 31-22 lead with 5:27 left in the third quarter. Kristen Junius' layup extended the Knights' lead to 35-27 lead going into the fourth.

Back came Meadows. Led by Kelly Zahorski, the Mustangs chipped away at their deficit. Zahorski scored 5 of her 7 points in the fourth, hitting a free throw with 20 seconds left to get Meadows within 38-36.

But they couldn't buy a bucket after that.

"We responded a little bit (in the third quarter) and it carried over into the fourth quarter," Hatfield said.

Madeline Urban led the Mustangs with 8 points and 3 steals, while Amanda Gunn added 7 points.

Ali Vlahos added 8 points for Grayslake North, which resumes the tourney Thursday with a 6 p.m. start against Highland Park. Rolling Meadows plays Highland Park at 6 p.m. today.