Skala, St. Viator don't disappoint
St. Viator's girls basketball players were disappointed with their performance on Saturday night against Resurrection.
"We had something to prove (Monday)," said Lions senior guard Taylor Skala, who was playing in her third game after missing five weeks with a bad ankle sprain. "We wanted to show that we were a better team than we were against Resurrection (45-31 loss in Chicago)."
The Lions succeeded and Skala showed she is back to her old form as the senior tossed in 15 points to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in a 58-37 victory over Riverside- Brookfield.
The Lions (11-9) improved to 2-0 in pool play of the Season's End tourney and will face Hersey (15-3, 2-0) at 7 p.m. next Monday.
Skala's 3-pointer gave the Lions an early 5-0 lead and they never looked back.
"Mr. (Tom) Blenner (assistant to Lions head coach Paul Bjerkness) told us in warm-ups that if we could get the early lead, the game could be ours and we did that," said Lions 6-foot-1 junior center Lauren Rooney, who also scored 15 points with 11 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 1 steal and 1 rebound.
"We started out with a lot of energy and we were moving the ball much better than we did against Resurrection."
Skala had 2 nice back-to-back assists on baskets to Rooney and Kim McAvoy, which gave the Lions a 14-6 lead after one quarter.
The lead grew to 27-12 by halftime as junior Katie Gavin started out the second quarter with 3-pointer.
Gavin finished with 6 points, while Morgan Hess, McAvoy and Tracy Supergan each chipped in 4.
"Composure was the key," added Skala, who will play for Rockhurst University in Kansas City next season. "I felt we had more movement in our offense this game. We needed to settle down after that last game."
Riverside-Brookfield (6-11) will face Latin (11-7) next Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Hersey.
"Taylor Skala was the difference," said Huskies coach Larry Rocco. "We didn't think she would play (ankle injury) so we wanted to take No. 10 (Gavin) out of the game.
"We should have gone to man-to-man defense earlier in the game and we should have pressed earlier."
The Bulldogs were led by junior Danielle Peco's 17 points, including three 3-pointers.
The 5-6 guard was 7 of 10 from the field.
"But as a team, we shot 27 percent from the field," Rocco said. "You can't beat anyone when you do that. We have to shoot better."
Fremd 65, Hinsdale Central 53: Two days after taking a 2-game lead in the Mid-Suburban League West Division girls basketball standings, Fremd took the court for another win Monday night in Palatine.
The Vikings (16-4) stopped Hinsdale Central 65-33 in the Sweet 16 tourney, as junior guard Jessi Wiedemann struck for a career-high 28 points that included five 3-pointers.
Wiedemann scored the first 15 points of the third quarter, including four 3-pointers.
Sophomore Ashley McConnell (7 assists, 5 steals) and senior Megan Gray (7 rebounds) each added 10 points, while teammate Jaimie Groot added 9 points with three 3-pointers.
Buffalo Grove 54, Providence 42: The Bison (7-11) were led on offense by Emily Cho (14 points), KC Dunne (10), Emily Georgoulis (8) and Bailey North (8) in the Sweet 16 victory.
Alanna Zawlocki and Andrea DiPrima added 7 points apiece for the winners.
Rolling Meadows 50, Nazareth Academy 24: Rolling Meadows (13-6) evened its record at 1-1 in pool play of the Season's End tourney.
Playing at Fenton, the Mustangs were led by sophomore Morgan Keller (12 points), freshman Jennifer Vliet (11) and freshman Jackie Kemph (8).
Maddie Conlin and Vliet both had 3-pointers for Meadows.