'Killer' Kellermeyer goes for 30, but Saxons fall short

After falling behind early, Schaumburg kept trying to make comebacks against Marist on Tuesday night.

But the visiting Redhawks were able to answer every time and finally recorded a 71-64 victory over the Saxons in the Sweet Sixteen girls basketball game.

The only answer Marist didn't have was how to stop Saxons senior forward Sarah Kellermeyer, who tossed home a career-high 30 points.

The 6-foot forward also collected 9 rebounds in her stellar performance.

"She's a great basketball player," said Schaumburg coach Bill Murmann. "If I walked into an alley with Sarah, I know I would be walking out."

Schaumburg trailed 15-8 when Kellermeyer hit back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to 3 points.

Kellermeyer's 2 free throws to start the second quarter brought the hosts (6-15) to within 17-16, but Marist (9-7) went on a 6-0 run.

"What separates Sarah from other high school players is her attitude," Murmann added. "She's not going to score 30 points every night, but she's going to bring that killer attitude."

The Redhawks brought three high-scoring underclassmen to Schaumburg, as junior Haley Stercic led with 25 points, followed by sophomore Teagan Walsh (13) and freshman Randyll Butler (13).

Schaumburg junior point guard Taylor Kosla, who had 3 3-pointers, finished with 15 points.

"That No. 10 (Kosla) is a heck of a player," said Marist coach Mary Pat Connolly, who entered the season with a record of 124-49 in five seasons. "We had to stop her. We always had to keep an eye on her.

"We were struggling to guard No. 34 (Kellermeyer). We tried fronting her. Then we tried three-quarters fronting her. In the second half, we tried fronting her again and did a little better job."

Kellermeyer said she used the mentality that when she was in the post and had the ball, she had to score.

"When I got the ball, I said 'let's score,'" said Kellermeyer, who will most likely play for Loras College next season and study education. "And when I didn't get the ball, I was trying to crash the boards. We had people who came off the bench and really stepped up, too."

Rachael Kahan (4 assists, 4 steals), Sarah McGinn (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Siobhan Cerney (3 assists), Alyssa Saklak (5 points, 1 3-pointer) and Alexis Carravetta (2 assists, 1 3-pointer) were other contributors for Schaumburg, which made its last run midway through the final quarter.

Down 60-49, the Saxons went on a 7-1 run with a driving scoop layup by Kosla, a turnaround bank shot by Kellermeyer and a 3-point play by Kellermeyer.

But that was as close as the Saxons would get.

"Schaumburg kept coming back," Connolly said. "But I'm really happy with our girls how they pulling away again. Three times, Schaumburg rallied on us and three times we pulled away."

Murmann was pleased with his team's aggressiveness.

"That was on the positive side," he said. "But we didn't always execute. Seventy one points is too many to give up. But when they shoot 33 free throws that does make a difference.

"That's where we lost the game. They shot 33 free throws and we shot 16. That's a big differential."

Stercic hit 4 3-pointers for Marist, three in the first quarter. She was also 11 of 12 from the free throw line.

"Haley is a very fundamentally strong player," Murmann added. "We did not defend her the way we wanted to in the first half."

Conant 52, Glenbard East 36: Senior Emma Loos (16 points, 4 steals) and junior Ashley Lindeman (15) led the visiting Cougars (13-7) in the nonconference win.

Senior Lauren Jason added 8 points and 5 rebounds for the Cougars while Angie Lonski fired home a pair of 3-pointers for 6 points. Marissa Ross (5 points) also had a 3-pointer for the winners, who travel to Schaumburg Friday.

Mundelein 56, Palatine 37: The visiting Pirates (3-18) were led by sophomore forward Alexis Bauer, who scored 12 points, 10 in the first half.

Teammates Katie Nawrot and Jenny Solberg each added 9 points.