Rolling Meadows sets record for wins
How beloved is the Mid-Suburban East girls basketball team at Rolling Meadows?
Even the boys program wanted to take a step out of the spotlight at Friday night’s boys-girls doubleheader.
“This night was really a celebration of the girls team finishing out its conference season and getting a school record for wins,” said Meadows boys coach Kevin Katovich. “We are extremely proud of them and the job Todd (Hatfield, Mustangs coach) and his staff has done.”
Hatfield, in his fourth season, watched the Mustangs break the school record for wins (23) after trailing at halftime for the first time this season in a home game.
Sophomore guard Jackie Kemph scored 18 of her 20 points (tying BG senior Emily Cho for game scoring honors) in the final 16 minutes as the Mustangs rallied for a 47-39 win.
“I’ve got to do more of that (scoring) in the first half from now on,” joked Kemph, who leads the Mustangs with 15 points a game. “I knew we needed something in the second half. So I figured I better do better.”
Kemph and her team certainly did.
And they were without their dangerous scoring weapon, Alexis Glasgow, who injured her ankle early in the third period. Hatfield said he was given the OK to play the talented sophomore.
“I could have given it a shot but I decided to fight through it with our other four girls and they really stepped up,” Hatfield said.
Bailey North’s layup with five seconds left in the first half sent the Bison into intermission leading 22-21.
But Mustangs (23-4, 9-1) came out with a 13-0 run to start the second half and never looked back.
After sophomore Jenny Vliet (7 points) scored on a putback, Kemph scored on five consecutive layups.
“All we talked about at half was getting the ball to rim,” Hatfield said. “We took way too many 3-pointers in the first half (3-of-15).
“We did a good job finding Jackie for layups to start the second half and that set the tone. When she is attacking, she ends up finding even more teammates. So it’s a win-win.”
Kemph found Ann Marie Lynch with a nifty pass and her senior teammate made the layup to give Meadows a 38-28 lead after three quarters.
A 3-pointer by Cho got the Bison (5-22, 2-8) to within 38-31.
BG closed to 44-39 on 2 free throws by Cho with 1:30 left.
But Meadows finished with free throws from Kemph and Vliet for the final margin.
“All season long, there has been no quit in these girls,” said Bison coach Pat Dudle, who also received 5 points from Courtney Meyers and a 3-pointer from Julie Jambrone. “Emily (Cho) has been getting more confidence in her offense and we need that to win games.
“We’re on an upper trend now and playing our best basketball. There’s a reason Meadows is the division champion. They played a great game and they have a lot of weapons.”
One of those is Amanda Gunn, who scored all 9 of her points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Hatfield praised the work of senior reserve Josie Suchecki, too.
“I thought she did a great job mixing it up inside,” Hatfield said. “Bailey North is one of the most physical players in the conference.”