Meadows measures up

Amanda Gunn was born one month after Rolling Meadows won the Mid-Suburban League South girls basketball championship in 1994.

The Mustangs hadn't won another division title until Tuesday night at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.

And it was the sharpshooting Gunn who helped secure the Mid-Suburban East crown with a game-high 15 points in Meadows' 53-43 triumph over second-place Prospect.

Rolling Meadows (22-4, 8-1) will appear in its third MSL title game when it plays at Fremd (20-4, 9-0) one week from today.

Meadows coach Todd Hatfield was only 4 years old when the Mustangs appeared in the 1975 championship game also against Fremd.

Hatfield couldn't forget the day he sat down with two freshmen (Gunn and Ann Marie Lynch) four years ago as they were joining his first varsity basketball team.

"I remember that first conversation," said Hatfield, a former guard for Schaumburg. "I told them four years from now we'll be laughing or crying. I guess we're doing a little of both."

The Mustangs went from 9 wins that first season to a school record-tying 22 this season.

"I remember when he (Hatfield) told us we were coming up," Gunn said. "We said, 'OK, let's go.' It was a rough beginning. We didn't realize what we were in for. But we knew we could take a big step forward this year."

"The first two years were rocky," said Lynch, who will play soccer at Marquette. "But then we got a great trio."

That trio sophomores Jenny Vliet, Jackie Kemph and Alexis Glasgow made its presence felt as usual.

Vliet added 14 points and Kemph 13 as the Mustangs started the third quarter with an 11-3 run.

"That start was probably the difference," said Knights coach Martha Kelly. "We couldn't stop their dribble penetration. We gave them a game. I'm proud of the girls. They did everything we asked of them."

The two teams put on a 3-point shooting exhibition from late in the first quarter to early in the second. There were seven 3-pointers made in a span of six minutes.

Vliet hit 3 in a stretch of a minute to give Meadows a 17-12 lead. Gunn then added one to make it 20-12 before Prospect junior Michele Molini went long distance to cut the Meadows lead to 20-15 after one quarter.

Defense became the name of the game in the next quarter as neither team reached double digits.

Kemph scored all but 2 of her points in the second half.

Her nice pass to Lynch for a layup gave Meadows a 37-25 lead with 5:29 left in the third period.

Prospect (14-11, 6-3) never got closer than 7 points.

"It came down to their 3-pointers," Kelly said. "They made them (seven) in the first game and they made them (seven) this time."

Molini was 3-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with 9 points.

Christina Brucci, who was honored with Maura Benson (8 rebounds, 2 assist) and Jessica Petrovski for senior night before the game, led the Knights with 11 points.

Teammate Adriane Falagario added 8 points and 2 assists while freshman Taylor Will chipped in 6 points with 2 assists.

Glasgow, who had 6 3-pointers in the first half when Meadows defeated Prospect 69-49 two weeks ago, added 6 points for the Mustangs' history-making win on Tuesday.

"We have a lot of heart," Lynch said. "No one is ever satisfied and we are always striving for our best."

"As coach (Joe) Szabo (Hatfield's assistant) always says, 'effort doesn't take talent,' and that's our motto."

Sure enough, the Mustangs' effort has made them champs for the first time in nearly two decades.