Buffalo Grove wins 2, passes .500 mark

How sweet it is.

For the first time all season, Buffalo Grove's girls basketball team is above .500.

With 2 wins in Saturday's final day of the Sweet 16 tournament at Lake Zurich High School, the Bison raised their record to 14-12 after a 1-8 mark to start the season.

Victory No. 13, which happened to be the Bison's 13th win in their last 17 games, came in a 64-38 triumph over Hinsdale Central.

Sophomore Bailey North scored 13 points and senior Andrea DiPrima added 12 as the Bison led 14-12 after one quarter before breaking the game open with a 23-5 run in the second quarter.

North scored 9 of her points in that second quarter while DiPrima and senior KC Dunne each fired home 3-pointers.

Coach Pat Dudle watched his Bison come back in a few hours and record a 58-56 win over Central Suburban League runner-up Maine West (9-16).

North (17 points), Dunne (16) and senior Emily Georgoulis (13) led BG.

Georgoulis fired home three 3-pointers while Dunne had one.

Maine West, which lost to Lincoln Way East 53-27 earlier in the day, was led by freshman Brittany Collins (16 points) and junior Amanda Hoye (9).

Fenwick 64, Barrington 58: Barrington senior guard Abby Kirchoff put herself in some elite company on Saturday.

Her career-high of 35 points tied the single-game school record held by former Fillie standouts Erica Berggren, Lindsay Richards and Ashley Berggren, who is now the varsity coach for Schaumburg.

"Abby played a pretty complete game," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, whose senior guard was 12-of-13 at the free throw line, one night after going 14-of-14 against Palatine when she scored 31 points. "Abby was maintaining her composure and creating a lot of offense for us. While we had a lot of players missing shots, Abby was kind of carrying us."

Kiersten Tinkoff came off the bench to score 5 points with 5 rebounds.

"Kiersten worked very hard off the bench," Barreiro added of the senior who also plays first base for the Fillies softball squad. "She had a real nice game. And Sam Maasarani (6 points) had a couple of big 3s for us."

Brooke Chandor grabbed 5 rebounds and had 2 assists for the Fillies, who led 27-26 at the half against the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic champions.

Kirchoff has scored 20 or more points in five of the Fillies last seven games.

"Sometimes when you are the go-to person, you feel pressure," Barreiro said. "But I don't think that's the case with Abby right now. She is just having fun."

Lincoln-Way East 44, Barrington 31: Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro said her team's offense just couldn't find its rhythm in their second game of the Sweet 16.

"And we had a letdown in rebounding," she said. "We were also very cold with our shooting (4-of-24) in the first half."

Junior Nicole Collins was the Fillies' top scorer with 12 points while also grabbing 5 rebounds.

"Nicole helped keep us in the game," Barreiro said.

Abby Kirchoff (4 steals, 5 rebounds) and Sarah Mass (5 steals) were other key contributors. Collins and Sam Maasarani each had 3-pointers.

The Fillies went 1-4 in the tourney (win over St. Charles North) with all its losses to quality teams Marist, New Trier, champion Fenwick and Lincoln-Way East (19-5), which has 2 losses to state powerhouse Bolingbrook.

"It was great tournament with a lot of great competition" Barreiro said. "It's great to see these kind of teams to get ready for the state playoffs. I think we could have won a few more of the games with some better rebounding and boxing out."

Schaumburg 53, New Trier 51: Junior Jenna Gerber (14 points), junior Alyssa Saklak (13 points) and senior Rachel Stuehm (8 points) were top scorers for Schaumburg as the Saxons defeated a New Trier team that took third place at the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic.

"It's nice to get this win," said Saxons coach Ashley Berggren. "With Palatine and Conant coming up this week, we want to make sure our spirits are up."

Alexis Carravetta added 7 points for Schaumburg while Amanda Kelly had a 3-pointer and 5 points.

Naperville Central 48, Schaumburg 39: Playing one of her best games, junior Alyssa Saklak tossed home 22 points with 9 rebounds for the Saxons (10-14).

"Alyssa had a lot of putback and converted some 3-point plays," said Saxons coach Ashley Berggren, who also received 6 points from senior Jennifer Pomagier.

Hoffman Estates 40, Warren 37: The Hawks fell behind Warren with six minutes left in the second quarter of Saturday night's nonconference game in Gurnee.

The Hawks did get the lead back but not until 18 seconds were left in the game.

That's when sophomore Destinee Young rebounded a missed shot and put it back up for a 38-37 advantage.

Seconds later, Hawks senior Jada Stotts made a steal, was fouled and hit 2 free throws with four seconds left.

With senior Mel McGinn defending, Warren missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds giving Hoffman the win to raise its record to 16-7.

Young finished with 11 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 4 blocked shots while Stotts had 10 points and 3 steals.

Hoffman trailed 37-32 with two minutes left when Stotts hit baseline layup to cut it to 37-34.

After Warren missed 2 free throw, Stotts grabbed the rebound and Young drove for a baseline layup moments later to cut the deficit to 37-36 with 1:18 left.

Warren missed another a pair of free throws and Young followed with her putback that gave Hoffman its first lead since early in the second quarter.

Tanya Skworch added 8 points (one 3-pointer) and 2 rebounds for the Hawks while sophomore Becca Stoczynski pulled down 8 rebounds with 6 points.

Zion-Benton 52, Elk Grove 43: Senior Leah Miller (11 points, three 3-pointers), sophomore Kelly Naughton (10, two 3-pointers), sophomore Diamond Boyd (8) ad freshman Melisssa Solorio (7) led the visiting Grenadiers, who are 9-15 after the nonconference game against one of Lake County's top teams.

Boyd also collected 7 rebounds while Michelle Calmeyn had 4 assists and 3 steals.

"We were kind of disappointed in our play at Prospect (a 45-27 loss on Friday) night)," said Elk Grove coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "We didn't feel we really competed so we challenged the kids to come out against a good team and they really kind of showed some toughness and competed for four quarters."

Zion-Benton (18-5) was led by Juanita Robinson (19 points, 6 steals, 6 assists), Samantha Rodriguez (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Morgan Garrett (12 points, 6 rebounds).

Bishop McNamara 54, St. Viator 38: Bishop McNamara (15-7, 3-4) was led to victory in part by Erika Tatum's 22 points and Belinda Schaafsma's 19 points. Visiting St. Viator dropped to 12-14 and 1-6 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.

Prairie Ridge 44, Wheeling 37: Senior Kayla Jordan (9 points), junior Kellie Kuzmanic (8), senior Ellie Grinter (7) and senior Kelsey Maczko (6) led visiting Wheeling (3-22) in the nonconference game.