Zion-Benton drops Lake Zurich

Game time started at dinner time, 6 p.m., for Friday's girls basketball game between host Lake Zurich and Zion-Benton.

A scheduled holiday concert choir at the school forced the early tipoff.

"Have I eaten dinner yet?" Z-B assistant coach Frank Mattucci said afterward. "No."

Zee-Bees senior forward Octavia "Sue" Crump was hungry, too.

"Wings," the 6-footer said. "I'll probably have wings tonight. And they'll be hot.

"I like hot food."

Crump and Zion pretty much stopped LZ, cold, in the fourth quarter of its 43-40 victory. The Bears (8-2, 3-1 in the North Suburban Conference Lake division) shot 1-for-9 from the field and scored 4 points in the final frame, after entering the quarter with a 36-32 lead.

"Kind of an ugly, little battle," Zion-Benton coach Tanya Johnson said after her club improved to 7-2, 3-1. "It was a defensive war out there, and a great win for us.

"A huge win," she added. "This division in our conference is tough, so tough - So many tough teams in it."

Crump might be the toughest player in it, the most active, the most likely to average doubles figures in - floor burns.

Crump, who verbally committed to play hoops at Illinois State on Thursday, scored 15 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and amassed a game-high 6 steals.

She netted 7 of her team's 9 points in the third quarter.

"She was everywhere, wasn't she?" Johnson said, smiling. "Hustling, going hard on offense, on defense."

Added LZ coach Chris Bennett, also impressed: "Crump had an attitude tonight, an 'I can dominate the glass; try to stop me' attitude."

Z-B sophomore Samantha Rodriguez, a 5-9 forward, also packed the stats sheet, finishing with 15 points, 11 boards and 3 steals.

She hit for 8 of the visitors' 11 points in the final eight minutes.

"Zion exposed a few of our weaknesses tonight," admitted Bennett, two days after his Bears beat reigning NSC Lake champ Libertyville 47-39.

"The good news?" he added. "Our schedule kind of favors us; our next game isn't until (Dec. 17, against Stevenson). We have a good week to figure things out."

Four Bears tallied at least 6 points Friday night, with reserve Stephanie Schmid pouring in a team-high 14. It took her only a handful of seconds to find twine, after entering the game at 4:02 of the first quarter.

The 5-10 senior guard later scored her team's final 4 points in the quarter, including a driving, buzzer-beating layup. On the latter bucket she sped from a wing, downshifted while dribbling, and then somehow seeped her frame between a pair of defenders.

Schmid banked the ball in gently, as the clock raced toward 0:00.

LZ trailed 14-10 after one quarter.

Bears senior starting guard Dori Darras (12 points, 5 rebounds) was Dori the Explosive One in the third quarter, striking for 9 of LZ's 14 points; classmate Katherine Anderson (8 points) scored the other 5.

A Schmid free throw, at 7:44 of the fourth quarter, gave the hosts a 37-32 advantage.

But Z-B, last year's Class 4A state runner-up, produced a 9-2 run and limited LZ to 3 points in the final 3:20.

Antioch 37, Grant 34: Antioch's girls basketball team might be starting to pick up its play.

The Sequoits held off host Grant 37-34 in North Suburban Prairie Division action Friday night for their second win in a row and third in four games.

Megan Borries' game-high 15 points led Antioch (3-7, 2-1), which hosts Lakes tonight. Borries and Paige Gallimore combined to make 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter. Brittany Kelly had 9 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Sequoits, who led 21-11 at halftime.

Gallimore finished with 7 points and 5 rebounds.

Grant (3-6, 2-1) was led by Brittany Glover's 12 points. Morgan Jahnke, who was averaging 14.5 points coming into the game, scored a season-low 5 points for the Bulldogs.

Grayslake Central 38, Hampshire 35: Skyler Jessop scored 14 points, and the Rams won their seventh in a row.

Morgan Dahlstrom added 9 points for Grayslake Central (7-2) in its Fox Valley Conference Fox Division opener.

Grayslake North 56, Round Lake 21: Kendall Detweiler's two 3-pointers and one by Allie Ceglarek helped the Knights grab a 23-0 lead after one quarter of the nonconference game.

Detweiler (three 3s) scored a game-high 11 points, as Grayslake North (5-3) won its fifth in a row. Brooke Sauer and Christina Freese had 9 and 8 points, respectively. Ceglarek had 7 points (two 3s).

Bianca Mahoney had 8 points for Round Lake (3-7).

Lakes 64, North Chicago 33: Amanda Smith put on a passing clinic in the Eagles' North Suburban Prairie home win.

Lakes improved to 3-5 and 3-0 in the NSC Prairie.

"Amanda showed how dominating she can be handling the ball and pressure," Lakes coach Pete Schneider said.

Smith found Terese McMahon (22 points) and Ashlee Cunningham (18 points) open under the basket all night.

"She is a great player and it's good to see her be so strong with the ball," Schneider said. "She works so hard and plays so unselfishly. She is happy to keep her teammates involved."

Cunningham and Dayna Olson controlled the boards when the Eagles needed it.

"Ashlee and Amanda are our captains and provide such great leadership," Schneider said. "We played hard, not always smart, as we fouled too much. We play Antioch (today, 6 p.m.) and we need to play better but being 3-0 in conference right now is where we want to be.

North Chicago was led by Darniquia Hood and Monique Greathouse with 10 points each.

Vernon Hills 70, Wauconda 26: Meri Bennett-Swanson scored 17 points, and Sydney Smith added 14 points and 6 assists, as the Cougars captured the North Suburban Prairie game for their fourth straight win.

Abby Springer chipped in 9 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds for Vernon Hills (8-1, 4-0), which starts the Mundelein tournament today with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff against Streamwood.

Diana Enriquez led Wauconda (3-5, 1-3) with 11 points, while Lauren Nee added 9, including a 3-pointer.