Wauconda acts its age in regional win over Vernon Hills

Kate Martino celebrates her 17th birthday today.

"I don't feel very old," Wauconda's junior point guard said Wednesday night.

She certainly didn't look old in her final basketball game as a 16-year-old. Martino was spry in posting game highs of 15 points, 9 assists and 5 steals to lead the Bulldogs to surprisingly easy 60-23 rout of Vernon Hills in the two teams' Class 3A regional semifinal at Wauconda.

Wauconda (21-5), which won a pair of close decisions over Vernon Hills during North Suburban Prairie Division action, seeks its second straight regional championship when it takes on Johnsburg at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

"They're super athletic," Bulldogs coach Jaime Weber said of the Skyhawks, who beat Regina Dominican 56-39 in Wednesday's first semifinal. "They're very aggressive on defense. They can drive, they can shoot from the outside, and they have a lot of all-around players. So we'll have to be at our best game."

Weber will take a repeat of her team's effort against Vernon Hills (14-15). Martino scored 9 points, including a 3-pointer, as the Bulldogs bolted to an 18-3 lead after one quarter.

Tammy Ellis and Erin Hellweg sank a pair of shots apiece in the second quarter, helping Wauconda extend its lead to 30-10 by halftime.

The Bulldogs didn't let up in the second half, outscoring the Cougars 14-7 in the third quarter and 16-6 in the fourth.

"It took us 26 games but we finally put together four solid quarters, offensively and defensively," Weber said. "We talked about this was the time to show it, to put all the season's work into this game."

"Better late than never," Martino said.

Lauren Mead added 10 points and 9 rebounds for Wauconda, while Ellis and Melanie Prudhomme had 9 and 8 points, respectively. The Bulldogs got good play off the bench from Hellweg (6 points) and Roslyn Summerville (4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals).

Vernon Hills was led in scoring by Jamie Rucks, whose 8 points included two 3s. Mallory Feece, the Cougars' season-long scoring leader, did not score.

"(Wauconda) looked good and I'm not going to take anything away from them because they're a really good team," Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. "I wish them the best. Coach Weber runs a real nice program.

"But we're better than that. We just didn't come out very well. We didn't execute, and we didn't play all that hard or smart. And once we got behind, we're just not the team that can come back (from a large deficit)."

Johnsburg 56, Regina 39: Heather Miller and Danielle Slivka scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, as the Skyhawks won Wednesday's first regional semifinal at Wauconda.

Melissa Dixon added 11 points for Johnsburg, which led only 25-23 at halftime before outscoring Regina 20-4 in the third quarter.