Llorens, Grayslake Central charge to victory

She's known for her soft shooting touch under the basket and ability to rebound and run the floor, but 6-foot-1 Rebekah Llorens also knows how to take a charge.

The Grayslake Central senior took a juicy one, so to speak, early in the first quarter of the Rams' 62-30 rout of visiting Woodstock in a Fox Valley Fox Division game Tuesday night.

So juiced-up was Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn that he pumped a fist and yelled, "There you go!" after Woodstock's athletic Chrissy Velasquez knocked over Llorens in the lane and was whistled for the offensive foul.

"That's the most unselfish play in basketball stepping in and taking that charge," Ikenn said. "I think that really can fire up the team, so I love when we do that."

The Rams were equally as pumped up as their coach, since every time a player takes a charge, she gets rewarded at practice with a bottle of fruit juice (apple or orange) of her choice from the vending machine.

It's the Rams' new "team ritual," Llorens said.

"Everyone on the bench yells, 'Juuuuice!' " junior Skyler Jessop said.

Grayslake Central (8-2, 4-0) never let its defensive intensity relent against Woodstock (4-6, 1-2), which allowed 41 points to Melissa Dixon on Saturday night but lost to Johnsburg by only 14 points.

The Rams' first-quarter defensive highlights also included Maddy Miller forcing a five-second violation and 5-7 Alex Scarbro blocking 2 shots, notching 2 steals and forcing a Blue Streak to travel.

Llorens, who posted game bests of 14 points and 12 rebounds, had 8 points and 8 rebounds in the first quarter alone.

"When you're more defensive-minded, those (rebounding) numbers just go up," Llorens said.

The win was the Rams' sixth in a row and first at home in their first home game.

"Our first white jerseys," Jessop said excitedly.

"We were like, 'Oh, we get to bring white today,' " Llorens added with a laugh.

As it had done in nine previous road game, Grayslake Central used a balanced scoring attack, with Jessop scoring 9 points, Miller adding eight and Scarbro tallying seven. The hosts built a 29-7 lead by halftime and extended the advantage to 52-16 after three quarters.

"I think we're OK with where we are now, but we know we could be a lot better," Jessop said.

"It's a game-by-game thing," Llorens said. "There are different things to work on against different teams."

Woodstock received 8 points and two 3-pointers apiece from Callie Buchanan and Rachel Parisek.

Grayslake Central's 5-6 Roxy Acoff hustled for 10 rebounds coming off the bench, and 13 Rams hit the score sheet.

"It's a nice way to start the home career," a smiling Ikenn said.

Lake Zurich 53, Warren 48: Dori Darras delivered a double-double.

And that helped Lake Zurich's girls basketball team do in visiting Warren 53-48 in North Suburban Lake Division action Tuesday night.

Darras finished with team highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Lake Zurich (6-3, 2-2). Katherine Anderson had 11 points, and Cathryne Spear added 10 for the Bears.

Warren (3-6, 1-3) got double-doubles from Lexi Leneau, who had 10 points and 10 assists, and Alyssa Phillips, who scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jessica Prince scored 23 points to lead the Blue Devils in scoring and added 7 rebounds.

Woodstock North 62, Grayslake North 54: The Knights dropped the Fox Valley Fox home game, despite Katie McGrath's 20 points and 5 rebounds.

Grayslake North (1-9, 0-4) also received 11 points and 8 rebounds from Brianna Leon and 10 points from Kendall Detweiler.

Libertyville 52, Mundelein 15: The Wildcats remained undefeated with another stellar defensive effort, improving at 12-0 and 5-0 in the North Suburban Lake Division.

Savannah Trees led the Wildcats by scoring 16 points. Nicole Kruckman added nine.

Amanda Davis scored 6 points for the Mustangs (6-6, 2-3).

Stevenson 38, Prospect 36: While Stevenson started slow, missing 11 shots, the Patriots came back to tie the game at half. They took the lead in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead to win their fourth game in a row.

"We did enough good things to pull this off," Patriots coach Tom Dineen said.

Michelle O'Brien led Stevenson (8-2) with 15 points. Ashley Niedermayer and McKinley Imus each added 8 points.

Trinity 59, Vernon Hills 29: Meri Bennett-Swanson scored a team-high 7 points, as the Cougars (6-5) suffered their fourth loss in a row.