Vernon Hills wins NSC Prairie
Before the season began, the 10 girls on the Vernon Hills varsity roster let coach Paul Brettner in on a new team mission to accomplish things no other team has.
The list isn't too long, but the Cougars scratched off the first item with a 56-39 victory over Antioch Tuesday night.
The win clinched the Cougars' first North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title outright. The program shared one in 2003. It also pushed the team's season victory total to 20, tying the program's single-season record.
Not a bad start.
"When you set a tough goal and you hit it, it's pretty fulfilling," Brettner said. "I think they feel pretty good about that right now, but they're not satisfied by any means. There's some more goals out there."
The Cougars (20-3, 11-0) will host the winner of the Lake Division next Wednesday with the aim of becoming the first Prairie Division team to ever win the conference championship.
"This was one of the check marks for us," Vernon Hills senior guard Abby Springer said. "It feels amazing. As a team, we came together. It was awesome."
Antioch (13-12, 8-3) was not able to prevent Vernon Hills history in its home court due in large part to hot shooting of the Cougars in the first half. At the outset, the Sequoits sought to slow down 6-foot, 2-inch Meri Bennett-Swanson (8 points, 6 rebounds) and 6-foot Lauren Webb (13 points, 9 rebounds) in the post, forcing the Cougars to swing the ball around the perimeter or kick out quickly after entry passes.
The defense worked, only Vernon Hills hit six 3-pointers and shot 60 percent from the field to take a 37-19 lead into the half.
"It's kind of hard to defend," Antioch coach Tim Borries said of the hot shooting.
Vernon Hills was also bolstered in the first half by scoring 13 points off 7 Antioch turnovers.
"When you play good defense, the offense comes a little bit easier," Brettner said.
The Sequoits had trailed 18-10 after one quarter and were within two possessions early in the second before the Cougars blew the game open with an 11-3 run, pushed along by 3-pointers by Springer and Sydney Smith (15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals).
Springer hit four 3s and scored all 14 of her points in the first half while also handing out 3 assists.
"Everyone slid to Meri because she's been doing so great and it gave me the opportunity to get wide open shots," Springer said.
The Cougars' shots weren't falling as consistently in the second half, but Bennett-Swanson and Webb were able to prevent any type of Sequoits comeback by blocking a combined 8 shots and altering countless others while not sending the Sequiots to the line.
"They've done a great job at not only being in the right position, but also being able to block the shot without getting any foul trouble," Brettner said. "It's nice having those two protecting your rim. Very nice."
After the game, Borries could only smile when talking about the complete effort the Cougars put together.
"If you want your perfect team of size and shooters Paul has it," he said of Brettner's squad. "I'll tell you what, they're really tough to beat. They're going to be tough to beat in the championship game of the conference. If everything works out, we'll get 'em one more time (in a regional final)."
Brittany Kelly led Antioch with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Paige Gallimore scored 9 points and Lindsey Gofron added 8 points in the loss.