Vernon Hills in the pink with big win
Vernon Hills' girls basketball players wore pink uniforms for their game against visiting Wauconda on "Think Pink" night Saturday.
The Cougars might want to consider wearing the uniforms again.
Sydney Smith had 12 points and 7 rebounds, and Meri Bennett-Swanson totaled 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks, as Vernon Hills stunned Wauconda 38-28.
It was the first loss in North Suburban Prairie play for Wauconda (18-2, 9-1), which can still clinch the division title by winning one of its remaining divisional games against Antioch (Feb. 1) and Grant (Feb. 5).
Antioch, Grant and Vernon Hills (11-10, 7-3) each has 3 losses in the division.
Vernon Hills led 18-10 after one quarter, 22-12 at halftime and 28-22 after three quarters.
Tammy Ellis led Wauconda with 12 points. Roslyn Summerville added 10 points and 7 rebounds.
Lakes 57, Antioch 41: Ashley Parmly led all scorers with 15 points and Mary Doupis added 10, as the host Eagles cooled off their district rival in North Suburban Prairie action.
Lakes (6-14, 3-6) snapped a five-game losing slide, while halting the 10-game winning streak of Antioch (14-7, 5-3). The Eagles have beaten the Sequoits twice this season, after never having defeated them. Antioch beat Lakes in overtime in December.
"I preach to these kids to stay together, to have each other's back and know that we are a very hard team to match up 5 vs. 5 on," Lakes coach Pete Schneider said. "We had a rough stretch losing three close games last week games that we thought we should have won. Then we played poorly for one half at Wauconda. Today we went out and played four quarters of aggressive, defensive-minded basketball."
Lakes led the entire way, including by 15 at the break.
"Assistant coach Brian Cardarella told the kids (at halftime) to play like we were losing," Schneider said. "He hit a home run with that statement."
Terese McMahon chipped in 9 points for Lakes, while sophomore Nicole Mogged helped hold Antioch's Andi Potkonjak to 12 points.
"Andi is a great player and she is hard to handle," Schneider said. "Nicole and Katie Brinser made her earn every possession."
Lindsey Gofron had 9 points for Antioch.
Stevenson 69, Mundelein 33: Michelle O'Brien scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Patriots cruised to the North Suburban Lake win.
Anna Morrissey and Kari Moffat added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Stevenson (17-7, 8-2). The visitors led 18-8 after one quarter, 31-16 at halftime and 53-22 after three.
Mundelein (12-13, 3-7) received 11 points from Becca Woit. Stevenson's McKinley Imus (9 points) helped hold the Mustangs' Olivia Dunigan to 6 points.
Round Lake 48, Grant 36: Chanae Brown scored 16 points, as the host Panthers earned their first win in North Suburban Prairie play.
Krystal Pitts and Adriana Pitts each had 11 points for Round Lake (7-13, 1-9).
"We've been in some games," Panthers coach Howard Conkling said. "Today we played pretty well."
Caitlin Wedge led Grant (7-13, 4-3) with 13 points. Morgan Jahnke added 11.
Zion-Benton 70, Highland Park 48: Juanita Robinson had 20 points, 7 assists and 4 steals, as the Zee-Bees won on the road to improve to 16-5.
Down 19-7 in the first quarter, Zion-Benton came back to take a 32-30 lead into the locker room. The Zee-Bees then outscored the Giants 20-6 in the third.
Octavia Crump added 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals for Z-B. Freshman Samantha Rodriguez had 12 points and 7 rebounds, her sister Helena Rodriguez contributed 10 points and 5 assists, and Morgan Garrett totaled 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Carmel 38, Nazareth 31: Jackie Meier scored 17 points and Sarah McHugh added 12 for the Corsairs in the East Suburban Catholic contest. Carmel improved to 12-8 and 3-3.
Lake Zurich 51, Lake Forest 35: The Bears improved to 10-13 and 4-5 in the North Suburban Lake.
Buffalo Grove 52, New Trier 48: The surging Bison (11-12) made it 10 wins in their last 14 games as junior guard Emily Cho led the way with 17 points, followed by KC Dunne (11), Emily Georgoulis (9) and Andrea DiPrima (7).
Cho made 11-of-15 free throws as the Bison hit 16 of 22 as a team.
Hoffman Estates 50, Huntley 46: Sophomore Destinee Young (15 points, 11 rebounds), junior Mary Pettit (12 points, 4 assists) and senior Jada Stotts (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) led host Hoffman (14-6), which rallied from a 23-13 first-quarter deficit.
Huntley fired in eight 3-pointers, six in the first quarter.
Hawks junior forward Precious Ogunleye assisted on a Young layup midway through the third quarter which tied the game at 30-30. Junior guard Tanya Skworch then made 1 of 2 free throws for a 31-30 lead the Hawks would never relinquish.
"After the first quarter we moved out of our press and into a man to-man," said Hoffman coach Mike Nocella. "Mary Pettit had a nice game. Huntley has a good team. They are not very big but they are fast and aggressive."
Schaumburg 38, Sandburg 35: Junior Alyssa Saklak scored 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds as host Schaumburg (9-11) won the Sweet 16 contest. Senior Jennifer Pomagier added 8 points for the Saxons.
Fenwick 73, St. Viator 27: Senior Taylor Skala and junior Katie Gavin each scored 7 points for St. Viator (11-12, 1-5) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference game in Oak Park.