Cary-Grove rolls to big win over Streamwood

Following five quick lead changes early in the first quarter, the Cary-Grove full court press proved to be to much for Streamwood to overcome.

The Sabres kept things tight through the first eight minutes with scoring from six different players, but continued pressure from the Trojans helped them break away and go on to beat Streamwood 61-33 Friday night in the Dundee-Crown girls basketball tournament.

Forcing 19 turnovers in the first half, Cary-Grove took a 40-20 lead into the second half and never looked back.

Offense came early and often from inside the paint as Claire Jakubicek's first quarter tally concluded at 12 points. En route to leading all offensive efforts with 21 points, Jakubicek finished a perfect 11-of-11 from the foul line.

"Free throws were not one of my strengths last year so I've been working very hard at them," Jakubicek said. "I thought we played really well as a team, and showed a lot of improvements from our opener. I am confident because I trust my teammates, and I know we can attack from both the inside and outside."

And attack they did.

Back to back 3-pointers from Karen Serowka and Liz Bart (9 points, 3 steals) concluded the first quarter, while Tori Sandstrom and Meg Straumann combined to end the second quarter the same way. Sandstrom finished the game with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals while both Bart and Straumann added 9 points.

"Our press wore them down, and things started happening for us," said C-G coach Rod Saffert. "We corrected a lot of things from our opener and I was pleased with tonight's overall effort."

Lizi Liberman came off the bench to lead the Sabres with 8 points, while Melissa Oehlerking pulled down 6 rebounds.

"We played a really good first quarter," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "I saw a lot of nice things from our girls, and I'm proud of the way they played."