Crystal Lake South sets school wins record

The Crystal Lake South girls basketball team has been using a secret weapon, junior Katie Burton conceded after Wednesday's 57-31 Class 4A regional semifinal victory over visiting Streamwood.

"We're telepathic," Burton said, still smiling after scoring a game-high 17 points. "It makes it so much easier when someone's cutting and you just know where they are going to be."

The Gators have been reading each other's thoughts while tormenting the thoughts of opponents at a record pace. The victory over Streamwood was their 24th of the season, a new school record.

"We were so close two years ago when we tied it," CL South senior Caitlin Mize, who scored 15 points, said of the record. "I wouldn't say it was something we were shooting for, but it was something we wanted."

CL South (24-4) will host Valley Division rival Jacobs (20-9) on Friday in the regional final. The teams split 2 games during the regular season.

The Gators put the screws to Streamwood (7-20) with an oppressive full court press from the start of the game. The Sabres committed 4 turnovers against the press in the game's first three minutes, allowing CL South to sprint to a 10-0 lead. Senior guard Carly Juliano capped the 10-point surge with her second straight steal, which she converted for a basket.

It took 2 timeouts by Streamwood coach George Rosner before his team stabilized. "We just tried to remember what we ran through in practice and not let the lead get too big," Streamwood junior Melissa Oehlerking said of breaking the press. "But they're a good team."

The Sabres never stopped pushing. After falling behind 23-7 through the first eight minutes, Streamwood outscored the Gators 11-10 in the second quarter, though CL South still led 33-20 at the half.

"I'm very proud of these kids," Rosner said. "After the way the game started it could have been over in the first three minutes. With a lot of teams it would have been over. It would have been 20-0. I stayed with that starting group, they settled down and regrouped. In the second quarter we played a lot better."

However, CL South salted the game away with an 8-0 run to open the third quarter. Burton scored twice, Mize sank 2 free throws and junior Jenny Hanrahan (10 points, 5 rebounds) tallied an inside bucket.