Girls basketball: Vernon Hills knocks shorthanded Wauconda from ranks of unbeaten
The pressure continued to mount for the Wauconda girls basketball team when they put their perfect 17-0 record on the line in a nonconference game at Vernon Hills Tuesday night.
The short-handed Bulldogs put together a strong rally in the second half after the Cougars built a commanding 30-13 halftime lead. But Wauconda (17-1) was unable to overcome that big deficit as Vernon Hills (16-5) came through down the stretch to capture a 45-39 victory.
The contest was played with a 35-second shot clock as the Cougars took a 10-6 lead after one quarter before going on an 11-3 run to end the second quarter.
Sophomore Eve Engler had 13 of her game-high 17 points in the first half, and Vernon Hills tied its biggest lead of the game at 32-15 on her inside basket early in the third quarter.
But the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run capped by an inside hoop by Alessandra Rodriguez (5 points) to cut the lead to 34-25 before the Cougars took a 37-27 lead into the fourth quarter. Wauconda slowly chipped away at the lead as Kelsey Piehl (8 points, 9 rebounds) cut the lead to 43-39 with 33.7 seconds to play.
But Engler (5 rebounds) hit two free throws for a 45-39 lead with 32 seconds remaining. Wauconda's Alexia Manalo (team-high 9 points) missed a driving basket with 19 seconds to go before the Cougars ran out the clock.
"It was a tale of two halves. We really had a lot of stuff defensively working well in the first half and in the second half they found some holes against us so credit to Wauconda for that second half," said Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner, whose team was outscored 26-15 in the second half.
"I did like how our kids finished the game taking care of the ball, trying to milk the clock a little bit, and hitting free throws so there were a lot of positives."
Wauconda's Sophie Giles had 8 points and 5 rebounds while teammate Kelsey Funkhouser had 4 points and 5 rebounds.
Vernon Hills junior Emma Jocson had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists while teammate Reagan Brettner had 6 points and 8 rebounds. Vernon Hills senior Keira Thomas had 6 points and 4 assists. Thomas surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for her career in a 49-44 loss to Buffalo Grove on Monday.
"I think we had a great team effort today, we all worked together, and it was one of the best games we've played as a team," said Engler. "We adjusted towards the end when they started pressing us and we were making some really great passes to each other."
Wauconda senior standout Sarah Palmer has been out with an ankle injury since the Bulldogs beat Grayslake Central last Friday while key reserve Ashley Maxwell also missed the game due to injury.
"Nobody thought we were going to go undefeated the whole season, it's got to come sometime, I'm just glad it came against a nonconference opponent and we showed some character after being down by so much at the half," said Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis, whose team could play Vernon Hills again at sectionals.
"So we had to figure out how to play in that situation and we won the second half, but just not by enough. If we had our regular team and our regular rotation I think it's a much closer game."