Cary-Grove 60, McHenry 37
Cary-Grove High School saved its best for last.
Nursing a 7-point lead after three quarters, the top-seeded Trojans outscored fifth seeded McHenry 21-5 in the final quarter in posting a 60-37 victory in a semifinal game of the Class 4A Prairie Ridge regional on Tuesday night.
The Trojans (25-3) will play Crystal Lake South in the regional title game Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Gators edged Dundee-Crown 32-30.
"I know we have been winning a lot this season, But I am not happy with the way we played tonight for the first three quarters," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "We are relying too much on the big quarter. We need to play well for four quarters. We played hard in the fourth quarter and executed. We got some easy baskets."
Leading 39-32 heading into the final eight minutes, the Trojans upped the intensity at both ends of the court to start the fourth quarter.
Forcing 5 McHenry turnovers, the Trojans extended a 7-point lead to 17, 51-34 with a 12-2 run. Cary-Grove, making 5 of 8 shots during the run, led by 17 with 4:09 remaining.
Freshman Claire Jakubicek canned a trey, Danielle Smith had a pair of layups and Jill Cole hit a 12-footer as the Trojans broke open a close game.
The Trojans sealed the win by making 6 of 7 free throws in the final two minutes.
Cole, Jakubicek and Liz Bart each made 2 free throws for the winners.
Cole, despite making only 3-of-10 free throws, scored a season-high 21 points with 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Cary-Grove senior, who was 9-of-13 from the floor, was the recipient of 7 assists from center Jamie Kuhl.
"Jamie and I have played together since fifth grade," said Cole. "We know each other so well. We were able to post them up and I was able to get good position inside and Jamie got the ball to me in good position to score. The free throws bother me. I have been a good free throw shooter all year. The last 2 games I just can't make a free throw. That is something I will work on in practice."
Jakubicek added 14 points with 2 3's and 4 assists. Kuhl scored only 6 points, but dished out 10 assists and corralled 14 boards.
Katlyn Halstead paced McHenry (10-18) with 10 points and 12 boards with 3 blocked shots.