O'Neill's big day sparks Maine West to two wins

Megan O'Neill had a day she will never forget.

The Maine West 6-foot junior forward hit the game-winning layup with 4.6 seconds left to lift her team a 51-50 victory over Sandburg in the Warriors' first game of the day at the Sweet Sixteen girls basketball tournament at Lake Zurich.

About six hours later at Buffalo Grove High School, O'Neill delivered a career-high 33 points to help lead the Warriors to a 57-44 triumph over Schaumburg.

O'Neill scored 25 points against Schaumburg in the second half, including 21 of the Warriors' first 23 points in the final two quarters.

In the first half, junior guard Sam Acosta had the hot hand, striking for 16 of her 20 points. Acosta had four 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes.

O'Neill and Acosta combined for 53 of the Warriors' points. Senior Shaina Yalda had the other 4 points.

"So much for balanced scoring," said Maine West coach Derril Kipp, whose team won its third straight game to improve to 15-12. "We kept running the same play for Megan in the second half and she kept making the shots."

For the game, O'Neill was 13-of-20 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

"She (O'Neill) played great," said Saxons coach Jay Colloton. "Maine West always plays well. Derril always has those kids ready to play. It was a great game. They made their free throws at the end, and we did not."

Freshman Alyssa Saklak's 8-foot fadeaway brought the Saxons to within 49-44 with 1:18 left in the game.

But O'Neill sank 4 free throws and Yalda and Acosta 2 each in the final 1:15 to seal the win for the Warriors.

"We definitely want to get the ball inside to Megan," Yalda said. "She will put it in."

O'Neill's previous career-high was 27 points against Dundee-Crown earlier this season.

"I just got my balance and went up for the shot," O'Neill said about her big scoring game which also included 5 offensive rebounds.

"Thirty-three points is more than our whole team usually scores," Kipp joked.

The Warriors can laugh a little now after snapping a four-game losing streak with three straight wins.

Two of those losses came on 3-point buzzer-beaters by Deerfield and Zion-Benton.

This time, Sandburg missed a 3 at the buzzer that would have beat Maine West.

Acosta's 16-point first half included three 3s in a span of three minutes in the second quarter.

"We just decided to split halves," joked Acosta about her big first half and O'Neill's explosive second half. "Now we want to try to make it seven straight wins to close out the regular season."

Acosta led the Warriors with 18 points against Sandburg while O'Neill added 16 with 4 rebounds. Emily Coogan had 5 rebounds and Yalda collected 4 assists.

Against Maine West, Schaumburg (7-19) was led by senior Sarah Kellermeyer, who clicked for 20 points, 16 in the first half. Sarah McGinn added 7 and Alexis Carrevetta 6.

"It was nice to have Alexis step up," Colloton said. "We need other people to step other than Sarah (Kellermeyer)."

Lexi Kahan, who scored a team-high 15 points against Palatine on Friday night, did not play against Maine West because of an ankle injury.

"That hurt a lot, too," Colloton said. "It is a twisted ankle. It looks like it could be 10 days."

In an 8 a.m. game to start the day at Lake Zurich High School, the host Bears defeated Schaumburg 61-34.

Fenwick 62, Barrington 56: Coming back from a disappointing 71-39 loss at Hoffman Estates on Friday night, the Fillies (16-10) gave state power Fenwick a run for its money.

"It was one of our best games all season," said Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro. "We were so disappointed after Friday night. We worked on executing all the little things."

The Fillies trailed only 36-33 at half.

Sophomore Abby Kirchoff scored 24 points with 5 3-pointers and while Jenny Schnack chipped in 10 points and 6 rebounds for Barrington.

Senior Anna Kirchoff (7 rebounds) added 8 points, all in the first half.

"Coming off the Hoffman game, we pulled together after a bad loss," Anna Kirchoff said. "It was pretty embarrassing to give up 71 points. We wanted to push harder today against a very good team and show that we're not that bad."

Sophomore Sarah Mass, who had 7 rebounds and 6 assists, echoed her teammate's thoughts.

"We weren't going to let Fenwick look past us," Mass said. "We pulled together as a team."

Brooke Chandor suffered an ankle injury early in the second half after scoring 5 points. Sarah Reindl added 6 rebounds for Barrington

Marian C. 63, Barrington 45: Abby Kirchoff led the Fillies with 13 points while Jenny Schnack added 10 against state-ranked Marian Catholic (23-3).

"That No. 20 (Abby Kirchoff) is a nice player," said Marian Catholic coach Mary Basic. "She does a nice job shooting and attacking the basket. She takes what she can get, and she finishes."

Schnack finished with 7 rebounds while Sarah Reindl had 5 along with 4 assists.

"We were pretty short-handed," Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro said. "Brooke Chandor (ankle) did not play and Kiersten Tinkoff did not play either game (illness).

"I thought Abby Kirchoff played hard today. Marian Catholic is just a very athletic team and we didn't match up size-wise very well."

Reindl played nearly all 32 minutes.

"We are a little thin with our post players right now," Barreiro added. "I didn't feel like the kids backed down. I felt we looked a little tired (against Marian Catholic) but we were playing a good team. The kids kept trying to scrap back. I felt we held our own very nicely."

Naper. Cent. 52, BG 42: The Bison (9-18) were led by Heather Nisbet (14 points), Brittany Abrahms (10) and Kelly Mahoney (10).

St. Charles No. 52, BG 33: Andrea DiPrima scored 16 points and Nell Boyd tossed home all 10 of her points in the third quarter for Buffalo Grove.

Bison coach Pat Dudle was missing the services of senior Kaitlin Hillner and junior Stacey Lialios, both out with ankle injuries.

Marist 54, Palatine 35: The Pirates were led by Lauren Orris (8 points) and Jenny Solberg (7).

Naper. Cent. 69, Palatine 61: Three players made it into double figures for the Pirates (3-24) in their second Sweet Sixteen tourney game.

Heather Zimmerman and Lauren Orris each scored 14 points while sophomore Alexis Bauer added 10.

Hoffman 43, Warren 35: Hoffman Estates (22-2) won its 17th straight in the nonconference test in Gurnee.

The three "Megans" led the way - Megan Fischer (13) Megan Evans (11) and Megan Bernardoni (10).

"We kind of hit the wall in the third quarter." said Hoffman coach Mike Nocella, whose Hawks are tied for first in the Mid-Suburban West with Fremd. "Sometimes, you have to win ugly."

The Hawks were coming off a 71-39 homecourt victory over Barrington on Friday night.