South rallies, stops Grayslake C.
Call it the ol' tale of two halves.
The first half of Saturday night's girls basketball game at Grayslake Central belonged to the host Rams. Crystal Lake South owned the second half, however, and won 62-56 in a Fox Valley Conference crossover.
"I have no idea why we came out slow," Crystal Lake coach Kyle McCaughn said. "In the second half, we picked up our intensity and our shooting percentage was real good."
Crystal Lake South improved to 7-2 while Grayslake Central fell to 2-5.
Down 12-10 with two minutes left in the first quarter, Grayslake Central rallied. The Rams finished the quarter with 9 straight points to grab a 19-12 lead and led at 35-32 at halftime.
But Crystal Lake South's Molly Benoit began the third quarter with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 35-35 and followed with two foul shots to give the Gators a 37-35 lead.
After the Rams rallied with an eight-point run to go up 43-37, the Gators used a run of their own, scoring the final nine points of the quarter to grab a 46-43 edge.
They never looked back.
South's Michelle Gaede led all scorers with a season-high 20 points.
"After we came out of the locker room in the second half, we knew we needed to shoot better and also play better defense," Gaede said. "Also in the second half, I was able go get open and make my shots."
Gaede, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, also had 6 rebounds.
"Michelle is a solid player both on offense and defense," McCaughn said. "She was able to come up with some big baskets in the second half."
Katie Burton added 14 points and had 5 rebounds, while Benoit and Carly Juliano added 7 points each for the Gators.
Katelynn Putkonen led the Rams with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and grabbed 6 rebounds.
"(Crystal Lake South) picked up their defense in the second half," Putkonen said. "They always seemed to know where I was going to be and they were able to stop me."
Kathryn Dickson added 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Alison Metzger added 11 points.
"The girls weren't doing the same thing that we did in the first half - both on offense and defense," Rams coach Roger Lass said. "Crystal Lake South has a good balanced offense and they shot well in the second half."