McHenry spoils Wauconda's plans for holiday crown

Wauconda's girls basketball team had an exciting week planned out.

First, the Bulldogs would win the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic, exacting revenge on Crystal Lake South, and then a couple of days later would celebrate Christmas.

"That's all we talked about - we're going to play in the Christmas tournament and we're going to get back at South," senior guard Kate Martino said.

At least Martino and her teammates will get to enjoy Christmas.

McHenry denied Wauconda a berth in the tournament championship game by holding off the Bulldogs 48-46 at McHenry on Tuesday night.

While McHenry (7-4, 4-0 in the tournament) will host Crystal Lake South for the title at 11:30 a.m. today, Wauconda (8-4, 3-1) will face Woodstock at 10 a.m. for third place.

Crystal Lake South defeated Wauconda for the championship last season.

"We were definitely looking to get back (in the title game)," Bulldogs coach Jaime Dennis said. "Maybe we looked too soon."

A layup by Tammy Ellis had Wauconda up 22-21 early in the third quarter, but McHenry then went on a 14-0 run, which included back-to-back baskets by 5-foot-11 junior Ashley Conway (16 points, 8 rebounds).

Martino (game-high 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) then helped trigger a Wauconda comeback. Her scoop shot with 35 seconds left cut Wauconda's deficit to 43-41, but the Bulldogs got no closer. The Warriors' Emma Romme (11 points) hit 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch, making Martino's buzzer-beating 3-pointer moot.

"I thought we missed a lot of easy shots," said Dennis, whose Bulldogs also committed a lot of turnovers (28), in part because point-guard Ellis was in foul trouble. "We were taking decent shots within our offense. I didn't feel like anything was forced, but we just missed them. They bounced out tonight."

McHenry got big contributions from reserves Alissa Rosga (9 points, two 3-pointers) and 6-foot Alyssa Haayer (11 rebounds, 4 points).

"I thought our bench was the biggest part for us," Warriors coach Scott Morris said. "The first half of the first quarter (Wauconda's) press really hurt us. We had some kids step up and play aggressive, and got some easy buckets. We just kind of went off that, and I think our half-court trap gave them some fits."

"They're really good," Martino said. "They had a nice (1-3-1) trap. I'm surprised they didn't run it the whole game. They got a good coach. They're a lot better than they were last year."