Girls basketball: Wauconda topples Grayslake Central to take NLCC lead, improve to 15-0

With both teams sharing 5-0 records in the Northern Lake County Conference girls basketball standings, Grayslake Central and host Wauconda battled it out for first place Friday night.

It was a struggle until the fourth quarter, but in the end the Bulldogs were able to beat their long-time nemesis Rams 56-45 to remain undefeated this season with a 15-0 record. It was their first win over Grayslake Central (8-8, 5-1) in well over 20 years.

Wauconda got off to a good start with a 15-6 lead after one quarter, but the Rams outscored them 13-8 in the second quarter to cut the lead to 23-19 at halftime.

It was a team effort by the Bulldogs that got the job done as senior Sarah Palmer (6 rebounds) scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half before leaving the game with a left foot injury late in the third quarter and never returning.

Junior Avery Geoghan (team-high 17 points, 7 rebounds) was a huge factor as her 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter gave Wauconda a 37-28 lead. Then Geoghan banked home her third 3-pointer before adding an inside basket for a 42-30 lead. Moments later, Alexia Manalo ( 7 points, 5 assists) scored on a drive to cap a 12-2 Bulldogs run to give them their biggest lead at 44-30 with 5:24 to play.

"All season we've had several different people that can be our leading scorer and that showed tonight. Sarah (Palmer) went down and Avery stepped up in the second half," said Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis, whose team outrebounded the Rams 31-29.

"In the second half our defense was tremendous despite all of the fouls. And we've never been 15-0 in my career. This is the best start we've had in over 20 years even when I was a varsity assistant we didn't start 15-0."

Wauconda held its biggest lead at 47-32 with 3:12 to play as a foul-plagued fourth quarter saw 23 fouls called. Junior Peyton Hoffmann scored 15 of her game-high 23 points in the second half while Alessandra Rodriguez had 11 points for the Bulldogs. Autumn Aliff had 7 points for the Rams while teammate Lucy Otoo had 5 points. Wauconda's Kelsey Piehl had 5 rebounds.

"I think we just wanted it so badly because we haven't beaten them in so long and I know I wanted it so badly," said Geoghan. "I've had a few off games in the past so I think I wanted to show myself and show who the team is here. And I think we did that and none of us wanted to lose."

Cold shooting really cost Grayslake Central as its offense never really clicked. Senior Mosey Drevline chipped in 4 points while Rodriguez, Manalo, and Hoffmann all fouled out. The Rams shot 22-for-31 from the foul line to 13-for-24 for Wauconda.

"We shot 1 for 19 from the 3-point line and that's not going to win a lot of games. You've got to give credit to Wauconda though, every shot we took was contested," said Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn, whose team never led. "We kept fighting back, but we just couldn't make that one shot to get us over the hump. Jaime (Dennis) did a nice job with their team playing great defense and they made every shot tough on us."