Streamwood outlasts Conant
For the past four seasons, Amanda Patterson has been the starting point guard for Streamwood's girls basketball team.
But Saturday, the 5-foot-4 senior suffered the worst injury of her career in the quarterfinals of the Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic against Waukegan.
Patterson's knee injury occurred in the first quarter with the game tied 9-9.
She was told on Tuesday the ACL injury would likely end her high school basketball career.
“It's hard without Amanda,” said junior guard Kim Jimenez, who had a career-high 5 assists with 6 points in Streamwood's 51-31 victory over Conant in the consolation bracket. “It was awkward without her. She never got tired. She was always in the game, never getting a rest.”
Jimenez and her teammates didn't rest without their floor leader on Tuesday — especially in the third quarter.
The Sabers (6-6) enjoyed one of their best quarters of the season, outscoring Conant 16-5 to take control of the game.
Streamwood will play for 13th place in the 16-team tournament on Thursday against Rockford Auburn at 10:30 a.m.
Patterson is the second senior who Sabres coach George Rosner has lost due to an injury. Jessica Mitchell (6-2 center) is out for the season with a broken ankle.
Patterson had been averaging close to 6 points and 5 assists while playing what Rosner called “fabulous defense.”
“She's so fast,' Jimenez said of Patterson. “She's quick on her feet. She's our point guard. You hate to lose someone like her.”
Junior Jessica Cerda (4 points) helped run the offense along with Brittany Delao (6 points) while Jimenez provided a spark off the bench.
Jimenez' back-to-back steals and layups in the second quarter gave the Sabres an 18-13 lead they would never relinquish.
“Kim came off the bench and gave us a nice lift,” Rosner said. “Without Amanda, we just need girls to get used to different roles. Jessica Cerda will handle the ball more. Everyone will have to help out.”
Sophomore center Hannah McGlone sure helped out inside with a 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to go with 5 blocked shots. Junior Deja Moore also scored a season-high 12 points while sophomore Holly Foret collected 9 points and 8 rebounds.
“We got beat up on the boards,” said Cougars coach Dan Travers. “That No. 44 (McGlone) hurt us and she blocked shots.”
“It was the best rebounding game Hannah has had,” Rosner said. “And she was looking to score, and that's important for us.”
McGlone scored half of her points in the Sabres' big third quarter.
“I felt like we started playing with more teamwork there,” Jiminez said of the third period. “We saw the open people. We worked harder and our defense saved us.”
Defensively, it was a gem for the Sabres as they held Conant (4-11) under double-digits in three of the four quarters.
The Cougars were led by sophomore Morgan Retzer's career-high 10 points, including a 3-pointer in the third quarter. The 5-9 guard also had 5 rebounds.
Conant's top scorer Natalie Krutumanes (6 points, 7 rebounds), who was at the hospital early Tuesday morning for an earache, did not enter the game until the final seconds of the first quarter.
The 6-foot senior forward promptly took an inbounds pass from sophomore Sarah Mazurek (7 rebounds) and beat the buzzer with a 12-footer to get Conant to within 10-9 after one quarter.
“Natalie was ill,” said Conant coach Dan Travers. “But she battled hard.”
Cougars senior guard Allie Bauch was not available due to a personal family matter.
Travers had a very young lineup on the floor most of the game with freshmen and sophomores.
“We're playing hard but when we make turnovers we let up on defense,” said Travers. “We turned it over and they (Streamwood) scored off them. That's what kills you. It's just a lack of offensive execution.”
Freshman Katie Lomas contributed 5 rebounds while freshman Hailey Rothstein had 4 and senior Barb Linderman 3.
“We're not cashing in anything,” Travers said. “We're just trying to put the five best players on the floor that gives us the best chance to win at the time, whether it's seniors or freshmen.”