Westminster topples Harvest Christian
Westminster Christian girls basketball coach Ken Flickinger can empathize with the growing pains Harvest Christian and coach Kelly Friestad will go through this season.
"We've been where they're at," Flickinger says.
Friday night, the Warriors hosted Harvest Christian in the first IHSA varsity girls basketball game between Elgin's two Class 1A schools, and Westminster's longevity as an IHSA program was evident, despited the visiting Lions riding a 7-game winning streak coming into the contest.
Sophomore Claire Spiewek scored 17 points and sophomore McKaila Hays added 14 as the Warriors pulled away in the second half and defeated Harvest Christian 45-32 in nonconference action between the budding rivals, who will each play in the Northeast Athletic Conference next year.
"We've had a couple really good games," said Flickinger, whose team won its fifth straight. "We didn't shoot real well in the first quarter tonight so we just had to relax and play good defense."
Trailing 8-7 after one quarter the Warriors (9-3) went on a 13-2 blitz in the second quarter to take a 20-10 lead at halftime. Spiewek scored 11 straight points for Westminster, which led by as many as 20 late in the game.
"We ran a lot and that's what we were trying to do," said Spiewek, who also had 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. "It was nice to work as a team and get the job done. It feels good."
Hays scored 12 of her points in the second half, including hitting a 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 38-21 lead with 5:37 left in the game. Westminster shot a respectable 18 of 43 for the game and made six 3-pointers.
"I was real happy with the start of the third quarter," said Flickinger. "We were able to extend the lead and get some breathing room. We hit a couple 3s, got some offensive rebounds and made some putbacks. Those things will be important later in the season."
Six-foot-2 sophomore Sydney Doby led the Lions (7-2) with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Harvest struggled shooting, making just 12 of 43 on the night. But after committing 15 turnovers in the first half, the Lions only had four miscues in the second half. The Lions also never gave up, closing out the game on a 10-3 run.
"This was a good game for us," said Friestad, whose team is made up of all freshmen and sophomores. "It was good to play (Westminster). They're one of the best teams we've played so far and this gives us some experience in this atmosphere. We had a good comeback at the end and that showed a lot of character and perseverance."
Burlington Central 54, Round Lake 34: It took Burlington Central's girls basketball team almost three quarters to get the pregame jitters out of its system. But once the Rockets settled into a rhythm, they took it to Round Lake in the first round of the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic at McHenry High School, winning 54-34.
Jessica Laird scored 17 points and freshman Alison Colby had 12 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Rockets (4-6).
Aaliyah Chastang scored 14 points for the Panthers.
The Rockets never trailed after jumping out to a 12-0 lead. But late in the third quarter, the Panthers scored 7 straight points to get within 26-21. At that point, Rockets coach Jenna Real brought back her starters and the Rockets started pressing. That led to a 17-0 run that quickly put the game out of reach.
"We came out kind of slow today, we weren't really up to our speed," Real said. "But we did kind of come back, finally. Things settled in the second half and we got into our game, which sealed it for us tonight."
After a 3-pointer by Adrianna Pitts made it 26-21, the Rockets got down to business. A steal by Colby led to a 3-point play by Erica Haynes and Colby assisted on a basket by Laird to close the third period.
Laird scored 4 more in a row to open the fourth. Catherine Kaynish scored the next 3 for the Rockets, and Sarah Nelson added a pair of buckets to finish the run.
Defensively, the Rockets held Round Lake to 22 percent shooting and forced 40 turnovers.
Offensively, Central shot just 27 percent, but its fast-paced style and the Round Lake (0-7) turnovers allowed the Rockets to get 80 shots.
The cold shooting led to some big rebounding numbers. The Rockets had 53 rebounds, with Kaynish grabbing 10 and Laird 7. Pitts had 11 for the Panthers.
Nelson added 11 points for Burlington Central, while Haynes finished with 6 off the bench.
A total of 15 Rockets saw action.
Allen Oshinski
CL South 46, North Chicago 30: Sara Mickow had 14 points and Stephanie Melone added 8 to lead the Gators (4-8) to a win at the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic.