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Girls basketball: Maine South’s fast start too much for St. Charles North in Komaromy semifinals

Fearing a potential upset in the semifinals of the 41st Annual Komaromy Classic, Maine South set the tone early with some aggressive defense against St. Charles North Saturday night at Dundee-Crown.

The perennial power Hawks stormed ahead of the North Stars 15-4 after one quarter before a 14-point run gave Maine South a 16-4 lead early in the second quarter.

St. Charles North trailed 24-13 at halftime, and it managed to stay within striking distance as an inside basket by Sydney Johnson cut the lead to 24-16 early in the third quarter.

But it was all Maine South the rest of the way as they pulled away in the final quarter for a 48-31 victory to advance to the championship game Monday night at 8 p.m. against undefeated Huntley (13-0).

Cornell-bound Ally Pape (game-high 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) scored on an assist by sophomore reserve Hayden Fahy (11 points) for a 31-16 lead as St. Charles North (13-3) trailed 31-18 after three quarters.

The Hawks (13-3) really started to pull away early in the fourth quarter as 5 points by Pape and a 3-pointer by Amelia Fernandez gave Maine South its biggest lead at 39-18 with 5:39 to play.

"Maine South is an outstanding team. This is a great opportunity for us to get better, and that's what we need," said St. Charles North coach Mike Tomczak, whose team will play Stevenson for third place Monday at 6:30 p.m. "They're big, strong, and athletic, and they pursue the ball really well."

Maine South's Asia Kobylarczyk had 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists while teammate Katie Barker (7 rebounds, 6 points, 4 steals, 3 assists) also had a strong all-around game.

"We had a really good halftime talk about keeping up the momentum," said Barker, whose team is the two-time defending Komaromy Classic champions. "The defensive stops allowed us to push it in transition and score on the other end."

Sophomore Bronwyn How scored a team-high 11 points for the North Stars while teammates Sydney Johnson and Lelanie Posada scored 8 and 6 points, respectively. Emily Currey added 6 points for the Hawks.

"We knew coming in that St. Charles was very aggressive (on defense), and being able to move the ball would be a key," said Maine South coach Jeff Hamann. "Defensively I thought we were fantastic, and we were able to switch our defenses against them well."

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