Collingbourne, D-C notch win; Bartlett falls
Dundee-Crown senior Kathleen Collingbourne sees a big difference between this year's roster compared with last season's.
This year's version of the Chargers' girls basketball team has more quality players coming off the bench. It certainly showed Saturday against Fremd in the Dundee-Crown Tournament. Seven different Chargers scored at least 5 points as D-C defeated the Vikings, 59-49.
"Last year it was pretty much six girls playing the whole time. Now we actually have depth," Collingbourne said. "We can rely on anyone to score."
Collingbourne scored 5 of her game-high 12 points in the decisive third quarter. Fremd (1-3) rallied from a 10-point second-quarter deficit to tie the game 29-29 after Sarr Thelin sank 2 free throws with 5:14 left in the third quarter.
But D-C (2-1), which never trailed, outscored Fremd 8-2 over the next 3 minutes to regain control. The Chargers took a 42-35 lead into the fourth quarter, thanks to going 7-for-9 from the free-throw line in the third.
"There was a point where they got to the free-throw line four of five possessions. They were up a couple and then the next thing you know it's (7) points," Fremd coach David Yates said.
Collingbourne hit 2 free throws to open the fourth to increase the lead to 44-35. The Vikings never got any closer and trailed by as many as 13 in the final quarter.
"After (Friday) night (a 54-38 loss to Lake Zurich) this was nice," Collingbourne said.
Joining Collinbourne in double figures for D-C was Melissa Summaria, who finished with 11. Kate Pilson, who suffered from foul trouble all game, added 9 points. Robyn Staudenmaier (8), Sierra Dunner (7), Rachel Wilhelmi (5) and Alex Lococo (5) all provided solid contributions for the Chargers.
Tracy Nachtsheim and Taylor Glassman each scored 11 for the Vikings, who made only 1 field goal in the first quarter and that was a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Kelly Oswald.
"We struggled early," Yates said. "Then we got ourselves to the free-throw line and did a nice job pressuring them to get back in the game."
Girls basketball
Naperville Central 54, Bartlett 31: Naperville Central missed some shots early Saturday night yet got off to a great start against Bartlett.
That's because when the Redhawks (2-0) didn't get their shots to fall, Lisa Lawrence always seemed to be there to clean things up with an offensive rebound and a putback.
The 6-foot-3 senior center tallied Naperville Central's first 8 points of a 54-31 win over the Hawks, with the first three baskets all coming on putbacks. For the night Lawrence finished with a career-high 20 points and 8 rebounds, as well as 3 blocked shots as Naperville Central won a second straight game in Tip-Off tourney action in Naperville.
"We didn't go in saying we were going to get every rebound," said Lawrence, who grabbed 7 boards on the offensive end. "But we knew we were a little taller than them and we looked to take advantage of those opportunities."
Not only did the Redhawks do a strong job on the boards against Bartlett (0-2), but the hosts also showed off their quickness in forcing 31 turnovers. The Hawks gave the ball away 12 times in the first quarter alone, when Naperville Central jumped ahead 12-4. The lead grew to 23-10 at the half with Lawrence single-handedly outscoring Bartlett 13-10 through two quarters.
"Lisa played really, really well," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. "Most of her points came off boards. It's not like we were running plays for her. She earned all the ones she got."
Bartlett made just 5 of 22 shots in the first half and had 19 turnovers while falling behind by 13 at the break. Aside from Lawrence, the biggest culprit for the Hawks was Naperville Central guard Kelley Hendrick, who had 8 steals to go along with her 6 points.
"She's so quick and she has such great anticipation," Nussbaum said of his junior guard. "She brings everyone else up around her, and it helps that she has a 6-3 insurance policy in the back (in Lawrence)."
The Hawks opened the second half with a 7-2 run to close to within 25-17 thanks to a 3-pointer from Becca Cronin and baskets from Alexa Tovella and Jacki Gulczynski. But the Redhawks countered with a 14-2 blitz to close the quarter and stay in command.
"We had flashes of improvements, but turnovers were not one of them," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team opened the season with a loss to Sandburg on Friday night. "At times we did a better job of boxing out. But we'd get a stop and then turn it over."
Gulczynski paced the Hawks with 10 points while Tovella added 8 points, 5 boards and 2 steals. Forward Samantha Salinas led Bartlett with 6 rebounds and also had 4 steals.
-- Stan Goff
Rockford Auburn 66, Burlington Central 58: Anita Anisi started off the game hitting her first 3 shots from behind the arc for Rockford Auburn. Her second half would start the same as she canned two more 3-pointers, finishing with 29 points as she led Rockford Auburn to a 66-58 victory over Burlington Central, in the Burlington Central Thanksgiving tournament.
With the game tied at 28 at the half, Anisi came out and created a mirror image of the first half, hitting 3 after 3, scoring 8 consecutive points, to push Auburn's lead to 4, the biggest lead to that point for either team.
Later on in the third quarter, Auburn made a key run when Burlington Central's Melanie Laird committed her fourth foul of the game. At that point, the Rockets' leading scorer and her 19 points sat on the bench for most of the half, and that's when Auburn attacked the Rockets with an up-tempo style of basketball, going on a 15-8 run to push its lead to 9 with under 7 minutes to play in the game.
"We do a lot of up-tempo basketball. We press a lot," said Auburn coach Zay Hoover. "We've got a lot of shooters that can shoot the mid-range shot."
At that point, Laird re-entered the game, with her team down by 9. But the fourth quarter turned into a free-throw affair, as both teams traded foul shots for the rest of the game. The Rockets closed to within 5, and Laird's scoring came too late. Yet, in one sequence, Rockford Auburn's undersized squad came away with three consecutive offensive rebounds that stopped any Rocket comeback.
"I never felt we were out of it. I thought we missed some key rebounds," said Rockets coach Darlene Guyett.
Laird would finish with 21 points and sophomore guard Jordan Maisto added 16 for the Rockets.
-- Steve Nichols
Schaumburg 74, Glenbrook S. 52: It seemed like a fairly routine shot when Kylie Castans lined up and made the first of a 1-and-1 from the free throw line.
But it was a lot more than that.
That point turned out to be Castans' 1,000th of her varsity girls basketball career.
"I had no idea," said Castans, a senior who was recognized for the milestone and presented with the game ball. "(Coach Bill) Murmann didn't tell me anything about it, so I was as surprised as you were. I felt great about it -- it was exciting."
She didn't rest there either.
Castans went on to score 26 points and lead the Saxons to a 74-52 win over Glenbrook South in the Schaumburg tournament. She also led the Saxons with 12 rebounds.
"Anytime you score 1,000 points in a high school career it's outstanding," Murmann said. "The fact that she scored 1,000 this early is just outstanding. As great of an athlete as she is, she's just a good person."
Waubonsie Valley 56, Huntley 37: The Red Raiders lost their season opener to Waubonsie Valley at the Warhawk Thanksgiving Tournament.
Huntley was led by senior Katie Bergquist, who totaled 17 points. Allyson Stellmach added 6 points for Huntley.
Crystal Lake South 57, Grayslake Central 46: The Gators (2-0) defeated Grayslake Central at the Bison Classic. Carly Juliano had a team-high 13 points for CL South. Katie Burton had 11 points and Michelle Gaede added 7 points for the Gators.
Prairie Ridge 62, Lakes 28: At the Mundelein Thanksgiving Shootout the Wolves defeated Lakes. Shannon Hennelly led Prairie Ridge with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Emily Murphy and Meghan Gregus each put 9 points on the board to contribute to the win.
McHenry 56, Streamwood 33: Streamwood (0-3) fell to McHenry at the Dundee-Crown tournament 56-33. Krissy Kunavich had a team-high 12 points for Streamwood.
"We were down by three at the half and I thought we were in a position to win," said Sabres coach George Rosner.
Cary-Grove 60, Palatine 37: At the Dundee-Crown tournament the Trojans (2-0) rolled past Palatine. Danielle Smith led Cary-Grove with 14 points. Tori Sandstrom and Jaime Kuhl followed right behind each adding 11 points while Jill Cole contributed 8 points.
"I thought it went really well and according to plan," said Trojans coach Rod Saffert. "Palatine is a good team. We were a little concerned with the speed of them. I thought we executed our game plan nicely.
"I'm very pleased. We didn't have the volleyball players for the first week, but they gelled really quickly with the girls we have. We're very excited about the possibilities."
Burlington Central 40, ACC 24: Melanie Laird scored 16 points and Jordan Maisto added 10 as the Rockets won in the Saturday morning round of their own tournament. Cory Bazany added 7 points for BC.
Fenton 48, South Elgin 43: Cortney Kumerow and Dijon Smith each scored 10 points but South Elgin (1-3) fell in this Fenton tournament game.
Hinsdale Central 63, Larkin 31: Alyssa Burns led Larkin (0-2) with 16 points but sprained her ankle and had to leave the game in the fourth quarter. Laura Kay added 6 points and 4 rebounds for the Royals and Sophie Sterricker had 5 rebounds.
Jacobs at Dundee-Crown: Due to a power outage during the day, the Dundee-Crown tournament ran past press time Saturday night. Jacobs defeated Palatine 44-39 earlier in the day and played Lake Zurich in the late game.
Men's basketball
Judson 80, Concordia 62: Outscoring Concordia University 14-2 in the final 3:45 of the game, Judson University (2-2) won the Judson Tournament. Concordia had cut the lead to 66-60, with 3:45 to go before the Eagles made the run for the win.
DeWayne Robinson and Joe Gonnam led Judson in points and rebounds. They both recorded 21 points and had 9 rebounds. Chris Oates added 15 points and Steffan Williams had 10. Dennis Meaney had 20 for Concordia.
Women's basketball
Huntington 62, Judson 59: After holding an 8-point lead at the half, Judson University (2-3) was outscored 37-26 in the second half as Huntington University (4-1) came back for a win over the Eagles. Judson had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but the shot banked off the backboard.
Marissa Marshall led JU with 12 points while Devonaye Henderson had 10. Kirstin Johns had 6 rebounds. Huntington's Courtney Beerbower led all scorers with 20 points.