Buffalo Grove turns it on, wins at Lake Zurich
With under two minutes in the first quarter of Monday's Lake Zurich Class 4A girls basketball regional play-in game, No. 15 seeded Buffalo Grove found itself trailing No. 19 Waukegan 12-4.
"We came out with no energy," said Bison sophomore KC Dunne.
"We were very sluggish and sloppy," added classmate Andrea DiPrima about the slow start.
All that changed though after Bison junior Stacey Lialios (7 points) hit a rebound bank shot with 10 seconds left in the first quarter to cut the deficit in half.
Junior guard Heather Nisbet followed with a 3-pointer to start the second quarter and the Bison outscored the Bulldogs 28-8 in the final 8:10 of the first half en route to a 58-40 triumph.
Buffalo Grove (11-20) will face No. 2 seeded Lake Zurich (25-5) in today's 6 p.m. semifinal on the Bears floor.
"We've got to come out ready to play," said Dunne, about today's semifinal against the North Suburban Conference champs, who defeated BG 51-44 earlier this season in the Sweet Sixteen tournament
Dunne (13 points, 4 steals) was sure ready Monday as the 5-foot-7 guard helped ignite the Bison rally with her defensive play and aggressive offense.
"KC is just full of energy," said first-year Bison coach Pat Dudle. "She is one of the most athletic kids I've been around. She really did a great job defensively."
Junior Heather Nisbet (12 points, 3 3-pointers) hit a 3-pointer with 2:41 left in the first half to give the Bison their first lead at 19-17.
They closed the half with a 15-3 run, capped by DiPrima's 3-pointer at the buzzer on an assist from Kelly Mahoney (3 points) which made it 32-20.
Tha same duo hooked up at the end of the third quarter. Mahoney's assist set up DiPrima's 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 45-30 lead.
"After the first quarter, we started running with the ball more and that opens up a lot more shots for us," said DiPrima, who finished with 12 points from 4 3-pointers. "The comeback (from down 12-4) was exciting. Waukegan has some good defenders and played some good defense."
"They cracked our 2-3 zone late in the second quarter," said Bulldogs coach Windell Piercy, whose team finished at 6-19. "Clearly, Buffalo Grove was the better team and I wish them the best of luck the rest of the way."
Both teams brought in the reserves for the final few minutes.
Michelle Jackson, Brittany Abrahms, Dayna George and Hillary Reynolds also scored for BG while Waukegan was led by Waukegan was led by Danashay Jenkins (13 points) and Julia Coad (10).
"Our energy got a lot better in the second quarter and we took care of the basketball," said Dudle, whose team committed 6 turnovers in the first quarter and only one in the second. "Any win in the playoffs is a good win.
"Coach Dudle was getting us pumped up after the first quarter," Dunne added. "They crushed us in the first eight minutes. We weren't playing any defense and just shooting 3-pointers. We needed to start attacking the basket and get their defenders off us from outside. We just came together as a team. We played the passing lanes well after the first quarter and we started making good passes."
Schaumburg 72, Ad. Trail 34: Junior Taylor Kosla (14 points, 4 assists) hit 3 3-pointers in the first quarter to help lift the No. 15 seeded Saxons to a 19-5 lead in the Lake Park regional play-in.
The Saxons (8-20) will face the No. 3 Lancers (23-5) today at 6 p.m. at the Lake Park east campus.
"We've got to guard (Michigan-bound) Sam Arnold," said Saxons coach Jay Colloton. "We'll see what we can do."
Senior Sarah McGinn led the Saxons against No. 19 Addison Trail with 16 points and 9 rebounds while classmate Sarah Kellermeyer added 15. Sophomore Rachel Stuehm added 7 rebounds.
Making her first start since returning from an ankle injury, junior Rachael Kahan handed out 6 assists.
"It was nice it have Rachael back, she helped us a lot," Colloton added. "And Taylor played real well. This was a nice tuneup for (today)."
Deerfield 58, Palatine 45: Senior Lauren Orris scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the No. 20 Pirates (5-31) in the Warren regional play-in against No. 14 Deerfield, the Central Suburban North co-champion.
Juniors Jenny Solberg, Katie Narwot and Sydney Wiedeman (3 steals) all chipped in 6 for the Pirates, who also received 4 rebounds from junior Heather Zimmerman.