Wauconda roars to win

Wauconda girls basketball coach Jaime Dennis knew that Saturday’s game might get physical on the court.

However, the Bulldogs showed that they can hold their own as they defeated visiting North Chicago 59-39 in a North Suburban Prairie Division contest.

“We always expect that from North Chicago,” said Dennis, whose team remained undefeated at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the NSC Prairie. “(North Chicago) plays hard, they play aggressive, they’re quick and when we play them, it does become a little physical.

“I told our girls that they had to be ready for it and keep their composure. Our team played hard and they showed that they don’t back down from anybody.”

North Chicago led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. But early in the second period, Wauconda took a 23-21 lead and broke the game open by finishing the half with 6 straight points.

The Bulldogs outscored the Warhawks 17-5 in the third quarter. Wauconda’s defense held North Chicago to only 5 shots from the floor.

“Our defense wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half,” Dennis said. “We pride ourselves on our defense and we seemed to struggle quite a bit.”

Wauconda’s Melanie Prudhomme led all scorers with 17 points. The three-year varsity player also dished out 3 assists and had 5 steals.

Ellis, in her fourth year on the varsity, scored 16 points and dished out 3 assists. Both girls missed most of the fourth quarter due to foul trouble.

“In the second half, we pressured them more, making them pass more and making them make quicker decisions, which led them making more mistakes.” Ellis said.

Wauconda’s Roslyn Summerville scored 10 points and pulled down 8 rebounds, Diana Enriquez chipped in 9 points, and Chavez Coombs tallied 5 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Sophomore Dara Tanner led North Chicago with 10 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Natajjae Franklin scored 9 points and Kai Mays had seven.

“Our defense was not good,” Tanner said. “We just have to work hard on not giving up so easily once we are losing.”

North Chicago started one junior, three sophomores and one freshman.

“We have a very young team and once we get behind we get rattled,” North Chicago coach Laurence Brown said. “Basketball is a very aggressive game. I am trying to teach them to become more aggressive. But because we have a young team we are making a lot of mistakes that freshmen and sophomores make.”