Driscoll runs past St. Edward
As the season goes on, many teams are going to place their focus on stopping 6-foot-4 junior standout Courtney Lindfors when they play the Driscoll girls basketball team.
But the Highlanders proved again Monday night they are about more than just Lindfors, as good as she is.
Driscoll had four players score in double figures as it put a season-high for points on the board, rolling past St. Edward 78-54 in a Suburban Catholic Conference game in Elgin.
Lindfors and sophomore Shaquira Scott led the Highlanders (10-0, 4-0) with 15 points each while junior Taylor Reaber scored 14 and sophomore Kasey Reaber 12. St. Edward senior stalwart Katie Yohn led all scorers with 25 points.
"We have a lot of good outside shooters," said Lindfors, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. "It puts a lot of pressure on me (when teams focus their defense on her) but it makes me feel good to know we have good outside shooters."
Despite the fact his team was 32-for-58 on the night in a hostile opposing gym, Driscoll coach Steve McCuiston thinks the Highlanders can shoot better.
"We do have really good shooters but I don't think we've shot as well as we can," he said. "We really haven't gotten on a roll with 3s in a game yet."
The Highlanders also played stellar defense Monday. Their full-court press allowed them to bolt to leads of 12-0 and 18-3 and even though St. Edward (9-3, 3-1) battled back several times, the hole was too deep.
"The combination of their fast break and our turnovers really got us into trouble tonight," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson, whose team committed 20 turnovers on the night. "We had some stretches where we looked really good and we had some stretches where ... oh my goodness."
The Wave was able to climb to within 26-20 by the end of the first quarter and was down just 30-24 midway through the second quarter when Driscoll went on a 12-3 run to close out the half with a 42-27 advantage. St. Edward never came closer than 12 in the second half.
The Highlanders got strong floor games from Kasey Reaber (6 assists, 4 steals) and Allie DiVito (8 points, 5 steals, 3 assists) while freshman Maddie Kerr (16 points) provided St. Edward with some offensive spark. Yohn, despite battling foul trouble most of the night, also contributed 5 steals and 4 assists.
"We had Kasey Reaber on (Yohn) because she did an excellent job on her in the regional (last season)," McCuiston said. "She was doing a good job of defending her and she still scored. Yohn really made some tough shots tonight."
Dawson came away impressed with the unbeaten Highlanders.
"Courtney's a strong player inside but they have six really good perimeter players," she said. "We just got beat up and down the floor tonight and that's unusual for us."
Streamwood 54, Ridgewood 21: Emma Schmidt scored a career-high 21 points, including an 8-for-8 effort at the foul line, as Streamwood (2-5) won this nonconference game. Arielle Gallione added 11 points and Melissa Oehlerking 8 for the Sabres.
Jacobs 66, Grayslake North 31: Maria Tamburrino led a balanced Jacobs attack with 15 points as the Golden Eagles (7-2) rolled to an easy Fox Valley Conference crossover win. Katy Cook added 11 points and Hailey Cnota had 10 for Jacobs.