Meadows escapes in overtime
Playing for the first time on its new floor in the school's gymnasium, the Rolling Meadows girls basketball team got to enjoy the surface for a few extra minutes.
The Mustangs went to overtime on Saturday before stopping Wheeling 42-32, outscoring the Wildcats 11-1 in the extra four minutes.
The triumph keeps Meadows (15-3, 4-0) tied for first in the Mid-Suburban East with Prospect (11-8, 4-0). The two teams meet at Meadows on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Wheeling (4-15, 0-4) had possession of the ball with 14 seconds left and the game tied. But senior Ann Marie Lynch came up with a key steal to send the game to OT.
"When the girls came back to the bench after regulation, I could see how angry they were with themselves and knew they were ready for the overtime period," said Meadows coach Todd Hatfield.
Hatfield was right on target as sophomore Jackie Kemph scored 7 of her 13 points to help the Mustangs escape with the win.
Sophomore Jenny Vliet also scored 13 points for Meadows while Amanda Gunn and Alexis Glasgow chipped in 6 each. Meadows trailed by 4 points with 2:21 left in regulation.
"We found ourselves in two unfamiliar places," Hatfield said. "We were in the main gym (had only one practice on the finished floor) and trailing by 4 points late in the game.
"Wheeling outplayed us for 30 of the 36 minutes. We were fortunate enough to steal a win."
The Wildcats were led by freshman Deanna Kuzmanic, senior Kellie Kuzmanic and freshman Hailey Dammeier who each had 7 points.
Fremd 61, Conant 28: Fremd (14-3, 4-0) was up 50-16 after three quarters as coach Dave Yates was able to rest his starters for most of the final 12 minutes.
Junior Ashley McConnell continued on her scoring tear, collecting a game-high 23 points with 4 3-pointers in about 19 minutes of action.
"I was pleased with the play of our bench," Yates said. "We got very good minutes out of Tiffany McKenzie, Sarah Macius, Catherine Ernst, Sydney Sek and Shannon Wittel during the third and fourth quarters."
Junior Bernie Williams chipped in 8 points for the Vikes, who lead the Mid-Suburban West by one game over Schaumburg (3-1). Sek had a pair of 3-pointers while Macius had one.
"We had a nice start to the game," Yates said. "And a strong opening to the third quarter. Jessi (Weidemann) and Haley (Gorecki) did a nice job making the extra pass and finding Ashley for open 3s."
Conant (4-13, 1-3) was led by Ashley Bartuch, Katie Lomas and Kim Zaucha, who all scored 6 points.
Barrington 30, Hoffman Estates 27: The host Hawks had a chance to tie with one final possession and six seconds to play, but Barrington disrupted Hoffman Estates' designed play and a contested shot missed as the Fillies earned an MSL West victory.
Senior guard Nicole Collins had a team-best 11 points to lead Barrington (7-11, 2-2) and junior forward Alexa Resch added 10.
Senior guard Sara Burns led the way for Hoffman Estates with a pair of 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 17 points. Junior forward Destinee Young finished with 9 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks (7-10, 0-4).