Regan sets tone early for Elk Grove vs. BG

After falling behind 21-20 at half to Buffalo Grove three weeks ago, Elk Grove's girls basketball team was taking no chances this time.

With senior guard Missy Regan firing home pair of 3-pointers in the first seven minutes, the Grenadiers cruised to a 12-3 lead and never looked back in a 47-31 victory over the visiting Bison on Monday night.

"We wanted to set the tone early," said Regan, who hit two 3-pointers in a quarter for the first time. "When it's open, I'll take it (3-pointer). Our guards had to step up and show we could shoot outside because they (BG) were sagging in on our posts."

"Missy's 3s were huge," said Elk Grove coach Ryan Kirkorsky, whose team (19-3, 5-2) owns a half-game lead over Wheeling (4-2) and Hersey (4-2) in the Mid-Suburban East. "That's why she stayed in the game longer than usual. Her shot looked good. She squared up real well. When the guards hit them, it makes it easier on our posts."

Two free throws by 6-foot senior Ashley Capotosto (game-high 14 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals) increased the Grens' lead to 14-4 before Bison senior Heather Nisbet (10 points) hit her first of two 3-pointers to make it 14-7 after a quarter.

"Missy's two 3-pointers put us up right away," said Capotosto, who made 8 of 9 free throws. "And we had a great team effort."

Kirkorsky loved the effort on defense.

"I thought we were tremendous defensively," he said. "Pat (Dudle, BG's coach) runs so many nice things and they have so many kids who can score. I thought we contested them well on defense."

Courtney Lindfors played a big part on defense with 6 blocked shots. The 6-4 senior also scored 13 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.

"I think this was probably the best defense we've played all season," Lindfors said.

Point guard Olivia Roback chipped in 8 points with another solid floor game. She made all four of her free throws attempts as the Grens were 19 of 24 as a team.

"We did not come out strong," said Bison senior forward Stacey Lialios, whose third-quarter bucket got BG to within 8 before the hosts extended the lead back to double digits. "It was hard to dig out from that hole. We know we can hang in there and play with the best teams but we have to have that mentality the whole game."

"We shot ourselves in the foot early with turnovers," Dudle said. "You can't do that against a great team like Elk Grove."

Junior KC Dunne (9 points), who has made a verbal commitment to play softball for Western University, also had a pair of 3-pointers for BG, including a 4-point play in the fourth quarter.

Hersey 75, Riverside-Brookfield 45: Playing without standout junior guard Megan Rogowski (22 ppg), the Huskies' surrounding cast stepped up in the Season's End tourney win in Arlington Heights over R-B (15-3).

Seniors Maddie Swan (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Julia Fredian (18 points) were top scorers while classmate Kathryn Korff chipped in 13 and junior Brittany Pittas had 9.

"I told the girls we had to make up 22 points for the loss of Megan so everyone had to score 5 points over their average," said Huskies coach Mary Fendley, whose team is 16-6. "And four did (Swan, Fredian, Korff and Pittas)."

St. Viator 48, Streamwood 44: Four-year varsity players Mary Calov and Susan Hohenadel both scored 13 points to lead the Lions (16-7) in the Season's End tourney at Hersey High School.

Senior Ronnie Mack and junior Taylor Skala each added 6 points for the Lions.

Marist 73, Schaumburg 61: Marist defeated the host Saxons (4-17) in the Sweet Sixteen Contest.