Schaumburg holds off WW South

The Schaumburg girls basketball team eked out a 45-38 win over Wheaton Warrenville South at the 20th annual Schaumburg Thanksgiving Basketball Classic on Tuesday night.

Growth was the main concern of both coaches, and in that regard, neither coach was dissatisfied.

"We finally figured out how to play a little defense," Schaumburg coach Bill Murmann said. "We established ourselves on the defensive end which really helped us a lot."

Scoring wasn't a problem for Schaumburg in the early going. Midway through the second quarter the Saxons had established a 17-7 lead. But that advantage slowly dissipated as the Tigers amped up a defensive front of their own.

WW South went on a 17-6 run to capture the lead, capped by Annie Shain's 3-pointer.

"We took care of the ball a little better in the second half," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. "We cut our turnovers in half and that gave us a chance to be in the game at the end."

The Tigers entered the fourth quarter with a 29-28 lead but Saxons forwards Sarah Kellermeyer (10 points) and Taylor Kosla (9 points) buried back-to-back jumpers to open the final quarter. Schaumburg was able win the free throw battle down the stretch to lock up the win.

Saxons senior forward Sarah McGinn tallied 9 points on 2-of-3 shooting and 5 free throws. Leading the way for the Tigers was freshman Krysta Watts with 9 points.

Each team ran freshmen out on the court, all part of gaining experience at the start of a new season.

"We're really young," Murmann said. "The girls have to learn how to produce in pressure situations, and we're slowly learning that. Today was another step in that progression."