Wrap: Chat inspires Blackwell

Schaumburg senior girls basketball player Gabrielle Blackwell received what she termed a "pep talk" at halftime from coach Bill Murmann in Thursday's Class 4A Bartlett regional title game against Geneva.

Whatever Murmann said in that chat should be bottled up for use in next week's Lake Park sectional.

Blackwell scored 10 of her team's first 12 second-half points en route to a career-high 32 points as the Saxons prevailed 74-63 to capture their third consecutive regional crown.

"Gabby, I thought she played very soft in the first half," Murmann said. "Her mentality in the second half was totally and completely different. She was outstanding. She really did well. I didn't think they had anybody in the post that could handle her."

The Saxons (27-5) were up 37-30 at the break, but Blackwell helped key an explosion to open the third.

For the third consecutive quarter, Schaumburg scored the first 8 points of the period, and opened a 45-30 lead. That edge stretched to 53-34 on a pair of Drewann Pancratz buckets later in the quarter.

The second-seeded Saxons also opened the first and second quarters with 8 straight points against the 10th-seeded Vikings (21-7).

"We like to get the ball rolling at the very beginning, especially coming out of the half," Blackwell said. "That is crucial to us. It kind of determines how we're going to play in the second half."

Saxons senior Kylie Castans (24 points, 11 rebounds) scored 6 of the first 8 points of the game before Geneva finally scored with 5:29 left in the first on Taylor Whitley's layup.

That was just the start of a 14-point, first-quarter flurry that ended with Whitley drilling a tough jumper at the buzzer to give Geneva an 18-15 lead after eight minutes.

Blackwell scored 8 of the Saxons' first 10 points of the second to give them the lead for good. Some of the credit for holding that lead has to be given to a defensive adjustment on Whitley.

After torching the Saxons for 14 first-quarter points, she scored only 13 the rest of the way after Schaumburg switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone.

"We knew in the first half that we didn't do what we wanted to against her man-to-man," Murmann said.

"What happened in the zone was she wasn't getting the same looks she was in the first half and we wanted other kids on her team to shoot the ball, not her."

Seeking their first-ever sectional title, the Saxons play the winner of tonight's Willowbrook regional in a sectional semifinal Tuesday at Lake Park.

Evanston 55, Maine W. 48: A promising start unraveled into a disappointing finish for host Maine West at in its Class 4A regional final in Des Plaines.

The fourth-seeded Warriors grinded out to an 18-14 halftime advantage against No. 5 Evanston, but the Wildkits used a 16-0 run to begin the third quarter en route to a 55-48 victory.

Evanston (21-8) won its 13th regional title and advances to the Maine South sectional semifinals.

Maine West (24-8) used solid defense, rebounding, and a patient offense in taking a 4-point halftime lead, but Evanston turned to its transition game in a pivotal 18-4 third quarter.

"The third quarter we just didn't come out to play," said Maine West coach Derril Kipp, whose team committed 8 of its 13 turnovers and went 0-for-7 from the field. "We made 3 or 4 mistakes, and they made 3 or 4 great plays. We were reeling after that, and in the end we just didn't have enough to come back."

Amy Wheeler came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points for the Wildkits, with senior forward Kim Davis adding 13 points.

"We did a nice job of (full-court) pressuring them," said Evanston coach Steve Wool. "That was the key, they have some big post players and if it got to a half-court game we felt we'd be in trouble."

It was in the first half with 6-foot senior forward Mary Kusner scoring 8 of her game-high 18 points for Maine West, which also held a 20-14 rebounding advantage in the first half.

But Evanston picked up its rebounding in the second half, which led to easy transition baskets, and senior guard Darcel Retreage added a pair of 3s in the third quarter to propel the Wildkits.

"We had our backs against the wall," said Wheeler of the Wildkits' halftime deficit. "We realized we had to rebound and all five of us crashed the boards and then we were able to run the floor."

"We just couldn't keep up with them," said Kusner. "I thought we were well-prepared for their press, but it sort of got us out of control."

Evanston entered the final quarter with a 32-22 advantage, but Samantha Acosta (10 points) hit her third 3 to narrow the deficit to 51-46 with 57 seconds remaining.

Brittany Begrowicz scored 7 of her 13 points in the final quarter to contribute to the Maine West rally.

"We've always battled," added Begrowicz, "But we didn't have enough in us."

Evanston did, despite converting only 7-of-15 free throws in the final quarter, as the Wildkits according to Kipp out-physicaled the Warriors in the final half.

"They wanted to win the game," added Kipp of the Wildkits. "They played the game the way they had to."

-- Michael Eaken