Maisto's career high 27 ignite Burlington
When Burlington Central coach Stephanie Smith tells senior guard Jordan Maisto to take a 3-pointer, Maisto lets it bomb from downtown. "That was my trademark in high school," Smith chuckled about the step-back shot. "I told her if you're going to play, you got to do it right."
Maisto sure did it right Tuesday
She didn't just nail one 3-pointer when her coach told her to, Maisto canned five, scoring 15 of her career high 27 points from behind the arc, which helped Burlington Central pass Grayslake North 55-41 in the 21st Annual Northern Illinois Girls Basketball Holiday Classic Tuesday night in Woodstock.
"Hitting those three's felt great, especially nailing them in their eye. It was awesome," Maisto laughed.
Anytime Grayslake North (5-8) made a push at the Rockets, Maisto stepped up. On numerous occasions in the first quarter, she ran to the arc and released, converting twice, giving the Rockets a 16-9 lead after one.
When the Knights pulled to within 5 early in the second quarter, it was déjà vu again. Maisto nailed another from the top of the key, and did so again in the third quarter, extending the Rocket lead to 9 with about 6 minutes remaining. She opened the fourth with another 3-pointer from the same spot, putting the Rockets up 39-29.
"She's been a great leader for us, she's taken the team on her shoulders every day, day in and day out. Sometimes she doesn't get credit for the passes and the defense she does. A lot of people care about points, but she's starting to become a complete player," Smith said.
The game plan however for Central (9-4) wasn't a perimeter barrage from Maisto, it was an inside-out game that both Brenda Thasavong (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Ali Settanni (12 points, 6 rebounds) capitalized on. They combined for 20 points off nice lobs by Maisto and Katie McNutt, who were looking their way more often than not.
"Brenda and Ali stepped up today," Smith said. "Jordan and Nutty had great passes inside. We work on that in practice. Get the ball to the big girl where they're comfortable. And that's what were trying to focus on, and so far its paying off."
Grayslake North had plenty of chances to come back. Sophomore Kinsey Siler made her presence felt with 21 points and 12 rebounds - 6 offensive _ and two quick buckets to start the second half had her Knights down 6, and a third on a shot from the foul line made it 32-26 with 2:40 remaining. The Knights, though, shot just 16 for 50, and kept running into a buzz saw of 3-pointers and post dominance regardless of outrebounding the Rockets 28-21.
"We couldn't get a stop and anytime you're going to make a comeback, you have to count on getting stops, and we didn't get stops," said Knights coach Jim Sarver.