Sawchuk steps up for Mundelein; GC cruises
Mundelein girls basketball coach Brian Evans has seen Mustang senior JJ Sawchuk play a lot of basketball the last few years.
But Saturday in the Mustangs' road contest at Warren, Evans called Sawchuk's effort "the best I've seen from JJ all season."
Sawchuk scored 10 of her game-best 16 points in the first half and was devilish on defense with 5 steals, as the Mustangs held off the Devils, winning in Gurnee for the first time since Evans became coach at Mundelein, 48-38.
"If this is the type of play we are going to see from JJ, then this is the type of JJ we would like to see the rest of the season," Evans said.
Mundelein improved to 16-3 overall and 3-2 in the North Suburban Lake Division. Warren fell to 7-10 overall and dropped into a second place tie with Mundelein at 3-2 in league play.
The visiting Mustangs ran out to a 26-12 lead early in the third quarter before the Blue Devils ripped off their first real scoring run of the day. A pair of 3-pointers from Joree Green and one more from D'Anequa Taylor capped off a 15-2 run that gave Warren its first lead of the day at 35-34 with 5:36 to go in the fourth quarter.
With the Blue Devils in control, Sawchuk proceeded to take over for Mundelein. The 5-foot-10 senior didn't only contribute on the scoreboard, but by being a leader as well.
"The coaches have really been getting on the captains about setting the example and taking the lead more," Sawchuk said. "We knew in the fourth quarter that we had to pick it up defensively."
At one point in the fourth quarter, Sawchuk directed traffic in the Mundelein offense that led to one of her 4 assists. Her perfect feed into the post on a Brooke Evans basket, helped extend the Mundelein run that turned out to be 11-3 to end the game.
"I thought we played hard today," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "We cut it to 8 and I called a timeout just to remind the team where we were in the game. Then we got the lead and sometimes, with a young team it's easy to lose focus and I think that is what started to happen at the end."
- Jeff Newton
Grayslake Central 63, Dundee-Crown 47: After a slow start, Grayslake Central picked up the intensity in the second quarter against visiting Dundee-Crown on Saturday night.
The Rams wound up overwhelming the Chargers 63-47 in a Fox Valley Conference crossover.
Megan LeBaron scored 8 of her team-leading 14 points in the second quarter for Grayslake Central.
"We tried to come out hard and didn't box out or rebound as good as we wamted to," LeBaron said. "In the second quarter, I just happened to get the ball and I guess I was lucky to make my baskets."
Grayslake Central (9-6) led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter. After Dundee-Crown's Melissa Summaria opened the second quarter by converting two foul shots to bring the Chargers within 6 points, the Rams rallied with a 12-3 run to build a 28-13 lead.
They were up 30-19 at halftime, then opened the third quarter with 10 straight points.
"Our guards did a lot of penetrating and that drew their defense away from their girls, and we made a lot of nice passes," Rams coach Roger Lass said. "Allison Metzger, Katelynn (Putkonen) and Alex Scarbro made nice passes."
D-C's Alex Lococo led all scorers with 16 points.
"We just can't string four quarters together," Lococo said. "We are having a hard time playing our best all four quarters on defense.
"Our coach, (Michelle Russell) tried to make some adjustments on defense, trying to get us to box out more."
Russell was happy with the way her team came out in the first half.
Putkonen added 12 points and 7 rebounds for Grayslake Central.
"I wasn't shooting as much as I usually do," Putkonen said. "I was just trying to focus on defense a lot."
Kathryn Dickson finished with 8 points and dished out 7 assists for the Rams.
"I didn't have a great game our last game," Dickson said. "So I wanted to improve on that and I shot some, and I guess it showed on the court tonight."
- Irving Solomon
Carmel 53, Lane 47: Tiffany Hendrickson scored 17 points for the visiting Corsairs, while freshman Jackie Meier added 11 with two 3-pointers.
Stevenson 47, Northside Prep 32: Kelsey Simon scored 18 points for the host Patriots, who won their second in a row. Michelle O'Brien added 9 for Stevenson (8-10).
Woodstock 59, Grayslake North 42: Mollie Whiting scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the first quarter, as the visiting Blue Streaks won going away.
Grayslake North (4-13) was led by Lauren Erickson with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Knights freshman Kinsey Siler had 9 points and 13 rebounds.
Libertyville 71, N. Chicago 49: Kristy Williams scored 23 points, as the visiting Wildcats rolled in the North Suburban crossover.
Libertyville also received 16 points from Erin Waehner and 11 from Katelynn Jennings.
Women's basketball
Joliet 65, Lake County 51: The Lancers lost despite 13 points from Christine Gaborek and 10 from Megan Wozniak. College of Lake County fell to 7-11.