Grayslake Central leaves Wauconda with plenty to celebrate

Grayslake Central had a lot to celebrate Wednesday night.

First there was the outright Northern Lake County Conference girls basketball championship, which the Rams won for a second straight season with a 58-23 victory over host Wauconda. It also was Grayslake Central’s seventh conference title in the league’s eight seasons.

Then there was the birthday of Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn. All of those factors had the Rams (23-6, 14-0) singing after the game.

"This isn't about me. It never is," Ikenn said after his squad was awarded the NLCC trophy. "It's about those girls right there. I've been blessed to have good players."

His players played quite well as they took control in the second quarter with a dominant display at both ends of the floor, outscoring the home team 15-1. That allowed them to take a 32-11 advantage at halftime.

Defensively, they held Wauconda to 0-of-13 shooting from the field, only allowing an Asia Zastrow free throw with 43 seconds left in the half.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-1 junior center Madison Hoffman (game-high 17 points) got things going 20 seconds in to the second quarter with a drive that went through the Bulldogs defense for a basket.

Then after a Mosey Drevline hoop, Hoffman connected from beyond the arc then set up fellow Grayslake Central junior Annie Wolff for another 3. She then stole a Wauconda rebound off a Rams missed shot and put it back in, making the 29-11 with 4:30 left until halftime.

Wauconda (18-7, 12-2), which was seeking its first conference title since 2011, shot 17 percent from the floor and 31 percent from the free-throw line. When freshman Avery Geoghan scored a basket with 6:16 left in the third it had ended a field-goal drought that began with sophomore Alexa Manalo's 3 with 42 seconds left in the first that had pulled them within 17-10.

"Wauconda has a lot of good scoring options," Ikenn said. "They're always a well-coached team. We knew they were going to be attacking (the basket) and we knew they were going to be hitting 3-point (attempts), so we just worked on stopping the drives (inside) and getting back on our on (their) shooters. The girls executed the game plan to perfection. My hat’s off to them. They did a marvelous job."

Hoffman spoke of her team's energetic performance.

"We knew this (was) going to be a rally big game. We (also) knew that Wauconda was going to pack it (in the zone). They're a great team, so we knew we had to step it up and bring it (tonight). Our main thing was (having) energy. We talked about having it on the floor, on the bench, everywhere where we needed (it)," Hoffman said.

Junior Rams forward Katelyn Marcelain, a recipient of an NLCC Sportsmanship Award prior to tipoff, added 10 points, followed by Drevline with 9.

Freshman Alessandra Rodriguez along with Manalo and sophomore Sarah Palmer each led the hosts with 4 points apiece.

Bulldogs junior guard Dannie Halperin was Wauconda's NLCC Sportsmanship award recipient along with Marcelain.