Mundelein rolls over Grant

Some fans sitting in Mundelein's lower-gym bleachers may have been sipping coffee, but Toni Knar needed no energy boost Saturday morning.

After all, these 9 a.m. basketball games might seem "late" compared to the 6 a.m. practices she and her Mundelein teammates have sometimes.

"It's like a practice," Knar said after her game-high 19 points led the host Mustangs. to a 63-42 win over defending tournament champ Grant in the opening game of Mundelein's Holiday Classic.

"It doesn't matter what time it is, we always come ready to play."

Knar certainly did. She opened the game by hitting a 3-pointer and sank two more before the quarter ended with Mundelein (9-2) leading 17-11.

She claimed she wasn't aware of her hot start, just doing what she's supposed to do in the Mustangs' offense.

"We have jobs on our team," said Knar, the Mustangs' scoring leader (14.5 ppg), who's scored in double digits in all but one game.

Mundelein's entire team had good energy. J.J. Sawchuk scored 6 of her 14 points in the second quarter, as the Mustangs built a 34-20 lead by halftime en route to their third win in a row. Knar drained another 3, her fourth and final one of the game.

"We try to enforce being up and ready," Knar said. "We need some leadership on the team and we have a lot of that. Everyone likes to have high energy and if you have high energy, then you play good."

Mundelein got good production from its bench, too, with Megan Woit and Sarah Small chipping in 8 and 5 points, respectively.

Grant (7-5), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, received 10 points apiece from Gina Cellucci (two 3s) and Heather Chapman.