Grant wins postseason preview against Grayslake North

Grant senior Ally Mahinay takes all AP classes and boasts a 5.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale.

"I like the rigors of it," Mahinay said. "I like being challenged, rather than sitting in class being bored."

OK, but being challenged again by Grayslake North?

Seriously?

Grant and Grayslake North played each other for the third time this season on Thursday night, and guess who each team plays in its state tournament opener? Each other, of course.

"Every single year that we play them in conference it's always a tough game," Grayslake North senior forward/guard Savannah Guenther said of the Bulldogs. "Playing them four times this year is a lot, but it's fun every time."

Thursday night was no different. Mahinay's game-high 19 points and Jazzlyn Linbo's 15 points and 6 rebounds led visiting Grant to a 42-37 win in each team's Northern Lake County Conference finale.

On Monday night at Hersey, 13th-seeded Grant (16-12) will play 19th-seeded Grayslake North (9-21) in a Class 4A regional play-in. The winner faces No. 4 Hersey the next night.

"We really know them well," Grant coach Kevin Geist said, smiling, of Grayslake North. "We have a good scout on them."

If the Bulldogs need to do more homework on Grayslake North, Mahinay would probably willingly do the work. She earned a full academic scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, where she plans to earn a degree in pharmacy.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity I have," Mahinay said. "I know that's something that not a lot of people get."

After four years of playing varsity basketball, her competitive career will be over, with no regrets.

"I love the game of basketball," Mahinay said. "But with the major I want to do, I really want to focus on that."

Grant, which finished 8-6 in the NLCC, opened the season with a 58-40 win over Grayslake North at Mundelein. Grayslake North (5-9 NLCC) traveled to Grant on Dec. 10 and won 49-46.

On Thursday, Grant jumped out to a 7-0 lead, as the 6-foot-2 Linbo accounted for all of the points.

"We had a lot of energy and emotion coming into the game," Mahinay said. "Coming off a tough loss (Wednesday) against (Grayslake) Central (48-43), and knowing that (Grayslake North) beat us on our home court, we definitely wanted revenge."

"(Thursday) I thought we played one of our best games of the season, even though we lost," Geist said. "The team was all involved."

Grant never trailed against Grayslake North but never could shake the Knights completely. Guenther's 15 points and 7 rebounds led the home team. The Knights played hard until the end, with Jordyn Gerdes' 3-pointer with 39 seconds left pulling them within 38-36. But Mahinay and Carly Burgeson both sank a pair of free throws to allow Grant to secure the win.

"I probably thought about this game more than any other because it's so weird," Grayslake North coach Rob Nicoletti said. "Everything is settled in conference, so you'd prefer to get the one on Monday. Our approach was just, everyone's playing and we're going to have fun, and play hard. I told the girls, 'The only thing that's going to upset me is if we don't play hard.' And I thought we played really hard tonight."