Schmid, LZ block Meadows with game-ending rally

Lake Zurich’s Stephanie Schmid has made a world of a difference coming off the bench.

Not just for scoring, but for her knack of proving shut-down defense.

Schmid, a senior, came up with a couple of key blocks, one of them in the middle of the second quarter as the Bears trailed 20-12 to Rolling Meadows.

“The defense was more impressive,” Schmid said. “The blocks really helped and pumped up the team.”

The rest of the Bears got pumped up defensively and stayed with the improved Mustangs until the fourth quarter.

That’s when Lake Zurich had 12 unanswered points in a 14-5 run to finish the game as the Bears pulled out a 55-50 victory in the Turkey Thriller at Lake Zurich on Tuesday night.

Schmid scored 8 of her 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the game’s final stages.

“I knew the 3’s would help us out,” said Schmid who has averaged 14 points so far.

The Bears (4-0, 3-0 in the tournament) will next play Fremd (3-0) for the championship at 6:30 p.m. today at Lake Zurich.

Lake Zurich was concerned about stopping two of the best shooters for Rolling Meadows (2-2, 1-2): Alexis Glasgow (17 points) and Jenny Vliet (9 points and 6 rebounds)

“I thought (Rolling Meadows) putting up 50, we still did a heck of a defensive job on them,” Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said. “We did the best we could to take their two best players out of the game.

“Honestly, we just defended and hit some open shots.”

Lake Zurich had trailed throughout the entire game until the final quarter. The Bears had the lead once and tied the game in the third quarter before finally taking the lead for good with their final run.

“We finally got the lead,” Bennett said, “and it changed the whole complexion of the game.”

Katherine Anderson led the Bears with 14 points with 3 3-pointers and Dori Darras added 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

The Mustangs had a 9-point lead near the end of the half and led 23-19 at the break but couldn’t find a way to pull away in the second half. Meadows held a 45-41 lead with 5:15 left but then went into a scoring drought that lasted 4½ minutes.

“We’re so thin bench-wise and we had three starters in foul trouble,” Rolling Meadows coach Todd Hatfield said. “We’re not deep enough to overcome something like that.

“Lake Zurich was a solid team and it was evident with what they did with Cary-Grove. The kids play their hearts out offensively and defensively.”