BG's youth movement showing promise
Even though his team dropped a 73-57 decision to Fenwick, there wasn't a much prouder coach in Carpentersville on Saturday than Buffalo Grove rookie Pat Dudle.
After all, his underclassman-dominated squad was going up against a Class 4A state power and the four-time defending champ of the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic.
"I'm so proud of my kids' effort," said Dudle, whose team (4-9) will face Prospect (12-2) at 3:30 p.m. Monday. "They played hard for all 32 minutes. We just need to take care of the ball better to defeat a team of Fenwick's stature."
Despite falling behind 12-2 in the quarterfinal of the 16-team event, the Bison pulled to within 22-18 following a steal and layup by sophomore KC Dunne with 4:11 left in the first half.
Fenwick coach Dave Power immediately called time out and his Friars (10-2) responded with a 13-0 run. They led 38-20 at the break.
"We changed our press in the timeout," Powers said. "Playing a 1-2-2 against them was killing us. So we went to man-to-man and started double teaming."
Junior standout Tricia Liston led Fenwick with 32 points, including 13 field goals (3 3-pointers).
"Tricia stepped up and hit some big shots," Powers said. "They (Buffalo Grove) made runs at us at different times but I felt we always in control. Our offense was sputtering for a while in the first half. It wasn't as much as missing shot as it was making unforced errors. BG forced some, too."
In the second half, BG closed to within 10 points when junior Heather Nisbet drilled a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the game.
Sophomore Andrea DiPrima led the Bison with 17 points (4 3-pointers), followed by Nisbet (9), Stacey Lialios (8), Dunne (6), Kaitlin Hillner (6) and Kelly Mahoney (6).
Hillner has played against Fenwick the last four years.
"In our pregame practice, we talked about them having five real good shooters from the outside," she said. "We knew we had nothing to lose this game. At half, we talked about cutting down our turnovers and being patient on offense. We started creeping back into the game."
Junior Katlyn Payne, whose brother Cully stars for Schaumburg, added 14 points (7-of-9 from the floor) for the Friars while Serafina Nuzzo had 8.
Liston also pulled down 8 rebounds with 7 steals and 3 assists.
"Obviously, this is a different Buffalo Grove team than last year (fourth in the state)," Liston said. "They graduated three of their five starters. But Buffalo Grove is always a disciplined team and they run their plays. They play good defense, too. They are always a team for which we prepare hard."
Dudle would like to see the same effort against Prospect on Monday.
The Bison dropped a 57-49 Mid-Suburban East game to the Knights three weeks ago.
"I liked how we were flying around on defense (against Fenwick)," Dudle added "We have to be like that all the time to be successful."