Carmel's expecting ... victories

Girls basketball coaches Jaime Dennis of Wauconda and Kelly Perz of Carmel Catholic met each other for the first time Thursday night.

They were due.

Their teams were supposed to play each other last season.

"That was when we had that huge snowstorm," Perz said. "(The) game got canceled and we never rescheduled."

A year later, both coaches are ... due.

Dennis is 23 weeks pregnant with her first child.

Perz is 25 weeks pregnant with her second kid.

At game's end, Perz was due congratulations again. Her Corsairs broke open a tight nonconference game late in the opening quarter and cruised to a 53-27 win in Wauconda.

Kathleen Felicelli's steal and layup broke an 8-8 tie and Carmel (15-11) took a 16-8 advantage into the second quarter.

"I think we played really good defense," said Felicelli, who had 10 points and 5 steals and then, like Carmel's other starters, rested the entire second half. "We got a lot of steals off our buzz (trapping) defense and man to man because we were in the passing lanes. One of us would get a steal and the other would be sprinting down the court."

As expected, the expecting mothers both competitors and former athletes at the schools where they coach insisted they're feeling fine.

"With Owen," Perz said of her nearly 3-year-old son, "I delivered on March 7 that's when I was (coaching) at Lake Forest (College) and our last game was like February 28. I was huge, and I was coaching throughout. So this is like a breeze for me now."

Only her team's struggles Wauconda fell to 7-16 with its fourth loss in a row has made Dennis ill.

"I haven't been sick. I haven't been tired," Dennis said. "I was tired before I started coaching. Then once I got over that, coaching started and I was just tired from coaching."

"She's hanging in there," Bulldogs senior guard Diana Enriquez said of her coach. "The past few years she's been lucky to have really talented teams (back-to-back North Suburban Prairie Division titles). With this team, it's a little different. But I think she's doing a great job of handling it."

Enriquez led all scorers with 13 points and hustled for 5 rebounds. She was coming off a career-high 25 points in a loss to North Chicago last Friday.

"She worked her tail off for every point," Dennis said. "Just like tonight, nothing comes easy for us. When we lack some experience and varsity speed, we have to work for everything we get, and she's usually the one doing it on the drive, trying to get underneath, putbacks. None of her (points) are easy. They're all hard-earned."

With her Corsairs leading 33-11 at halftime, Perz gave her starters the rest of the night off. Junior center Kayla Quinn scored 8 of her 10 points in the third quarter, and junior Holly Sprow had all 6 of her points in the fourth.

"Our whole team needs work," Perz said. "We have two games left in the regular season (Saturday at home against Marist and Wednesday at home against Benet). We're trying to get ready for the postseason. Tonight was a good opportunity to do that."

Freshman Jessie Wood added 10 points for Wauconda, which played without senior forward Chavez Coombs, who hit her head in the North Chicago game. Coombs and Enriquez are Wauconda's only veteran starters.

"They have so much potential," Enriquez said of her young teammates. "I just keep telling them to keep their heads up. It will get better. They just have to work hard at practice and it will pay off."

Zion-Benton 51, VH 37: Octavia Crump scored 19 points, Samantha Rodriguez added 18, and Zion-Benton's girls basketball team cooled off visiting Vernon Hills 51-37 in a North Suburban Conference crossover Thursday night.

Sydney Smith had 15 points, including three 3-pointers, for Vernon Hills (20-4), which had its four-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the second time in its last 11 games.

The score was tied 33-33 after three quarters, but Rodriguez scored 12 points in the fourth and the Zee-Bees outscored the Cougars 18-4.

Meri Bennett-Swanson had all 4 points for Vernon Hills. She finished with 11.

"We played well for 3½ quarters," Cougars coach Paul Brettner said. "We were down four with three minutes to go, but they wore us down. This is a great game for us right now, right before the state playoffs."

Palatine 44, Mundelein 30: Molly Rosenow and Amanda Davis each scored 7 points for the Mustangs (10-17) in their nonconference loss on the road.