Grayslake North earns fitting victory over Grayslake Central

What's a girl supposed to do?

Grayslake North standout guard Brandi Thibeaux felt something was wrong to start the game on rivalry night at Grayslake Central. Her complaint was that one of her shoes just didn't feel right.

So right in the middle of this Fox Valley Conference Fox Division game Tuesday night, Thibeaux's shoe fell off. Instead of calling timeout, she simply fired the uncooperative shoe off the court and played with one shoe on and one show off.

"I knew it wasn't tightened enough," Thibeaux said. "But I knew I had to stay on the court. It couldn't be four on five."

The North team dubbed this game at Central as revenge night as Central had beaten the Knights on their home court back in December.

It was close for a quarter. Grayslake North (11-5, 4-3) scored 26 points in the second quarter and coasted to a 49-33 victory.

It was the first FVC Fox loss for Grayslake Central (8-10, 5-1).

Thibeaux had her usual sparkling game with 20 points, including two 3-pointers. However, she had to share the spotlight with North's inside presence, Abbey Stinner. This post player went home with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.

"Abbey had a great week of practice," Grayslake North coach Rob Nicoletti said. "It was her best week of practice. And this game meant a lot to the seniors."

Both teams struggled shooting in the early going. Stinner had a good start and led all scorers after one quarter with 4 points. North led Central 8-5 after the first quarter.

"We really worked as a team tonight," Stinner said. "We definitely wanted to come here tonight and take this game from Central. It's our last game playing Central."

Thibeaux and crew went to work in the second quarter. She had a personal 6-point run that extended the Knights' lead to 20-9. In some bright news for the Rams, senior Kelly Moroney played hard defense on North's leading scorer Sidney Lovitsch and held her to just 5 points.

Grayslake North also got some help from Alyssa Gunn, who nailed a 3-pointer and finished with 7 points.

"We had a chip on our shoulder from that game in December," Nicoletti said. "We played with a purpose tonight."

Both teams again struggled to put points on the board in the third quarter. Again, Thibeaux scored back-to-back baskets and the Knights' lead was 42-20.

The Rams got a strong shooting effort from senior guard Quin Garbett. She hit the team's lone 3-pointer on the way to 12 points.