Doubly effective McHugh leads Carmel win
The accomplished double-sport athlete has a new focus.
Double-doubles.
“That was actually one of my goals for this year,” Sarah McHugh said after her first double-double — 16 points and 12 rebounds — of the season led Carmel Catholic’s girls basketball team to a 47-34 win over Glenbrook North in the finale of Mundelein’s Lady Mustangs Turkey Shootout Wednesday night.
“My coach said she wanted to see more double-doubles from me. So anytime I can get it, it’s great.”
McHugh picked a nice time for it. Carmel, Highland Park and Glenbrook North all went 4-1 in the tournament, but Highland Park was declared the champion by virtue of point differential.
McHugh denied Glenbrook North the title by being a force at both ends of the court.
The 5-foot-11 senior forward also had 3 steals, including one that she converted into a breakaway layup with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter, extending the Corsairs’ lead to 43-30. She had scored the games’ previous five points, too, thanks to a foul-line jumper and three-point play, after she snared a teammate’s missed free throw.
“I don’t know,” McHugh said of her performance. “Some fire came up inside me, wanting to win and wanting to go out 4-1 instead of 3-2.”
McHugh doesn’t say, “I don’t know” often.
She boasts a 4.15 GPA and scored a 31 on her ACT. Which helps explain how she earned an academic scholarship to the University of Northern Iowa, where the defensive center midfield/sweeper/forward will play Division I soccer.
“Dad’s an engineer. Mom’s a lawyer,” McHugh said of parents Pete and Ellen. “I got good genes.”
She’s got basketball game, too.
McHugh’s 3 field goals in the second quarter against Glenbrook North helped Carmel turn an 11-9 deficit after one quarter into a 25-20 lead by halftime.
“The first few games I wasn’t really in my groove yet,” said McHugh, who went directly from club soccer to basketball. “I play another sport, so it took me a while to get used to playing basketball again. I have such a great team, and we’ve been working hard at practice. (My teammates) just motivate me to do better.”
McHugh tallied 7 points in the fourth, as the Corsairs pulled away.
“That’s the Sarah I know from last year,” Perz said. “I’ve been waiting for her to show up.
“She’s been struggling with finishing around the rim. We’ve talked about it numerous times. Something finally just clicked with her.”
McHugh, Kathleen Felicelli (11 points) and Jackie Meier all represented Carmel on the all-tournament team.
Gracie Sanchez (game-high 17 points, 6 rebounds), Rachel Dress (4 points) and Rachel Blitt (8 points) made the all-tournament team for Glenbrook North.
“That’s a big win,” said Perz, whose team also got two 3-pointers from Cassidy Kloss and 9 rebounds from Kaitlyn Lynch. “That’s a good team we just beat.”