Wheeling ready for post time

Post up another win for Wheeling's girls basketball team.

Without its star post.

Illinois-bound center Lana Rukavina took Thursday's game off because of some soreness in her leg, according to Wildcats coach Shelly Wiegel.

But seniors Natasha Robinson (6-foot) and Lindsey Mills (6-2) helped picked up the slack in the middle along with junior Ashley Wilson, who scored 13 points and collected a game-high 8 steals as the Wildcats began the Warren tournament with a 54-25 triumph over Grayslake Central in Gurnee.

"It's a good start to the tournament," Wiegel said. "We'd certainly like to have Lana ready for (today vs. Hersey). We'll see how it goes."

Things went well for Wheeling (12-2) on Thursday after a 2-2 tie.

The state-ranked Wildcats connected for three straight 3-pointers to pull away for an 11-2 lead and never looked back.

Grayslake has also lost to state ranked Buffalo Grove and Chicago-area ranked Maine South.

"Buffalo Grove is big but plays more of an outside game than Wheeling," said Grayslake coach Roger Lass. "But Wheeling is big, and they play more inside."

Except when they're hitting those 3s.

"I thought we were doing OK in our zone but then they hit those three 3s in four possessions. And all of sudden it's 11-2," Lass said. "Then they hit some layups and had some good fastbreaks. But we were playing good defense."

Sophomore Janelle Cannon (11 points, game-high 9 assists) started the 3-point barrage by hitting a pair, then Wilson popped in the third one.

Robinson, playing a post, also fired home a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to give the Wildcats an 18-4 lead.

"I'll play anywhere," Robinson said.

"Natasha is real versatile." Wiegel said. "She started as our second post (with Wilson). She can play a 2, 3, 4 or 5 and we don't lose much."

Robinson finished with 6 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Teammate Jessie Smith contributed 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.

Bianca Szafarowicz added 7 points while Tiffany Meier, Bridgette Gray, Stephanie Kuzmanic and Cheri Nolla also scored.

"Everyone got in and they all worked hard on offense and defense," said Wiegel, who played 15 girls. "We saw a lot of different people on the floor so that was good.

"Janelle did a good job distributing the ball. When she attacks, she likes to make a good pass."

Cannon says she is better known for her court vision.

"I'm not really a shooter," she said. "I'm used to passing because that's what I do for Full Package (her off-season) club)."

One of Cannon's assists went to Mills, who scored a fastbreak layup for a 13-4 lead in the opening quarter.

"We wanted to try and make up for not having Lana in the post," Mills said.

Junior Katelyn Putkonen led Grayslake Central with 8 points.

"I thought Laura Stark and Brianne Anderson played real hard," Lass added. "In the second half, they played real tough defense. They fought for balls and took the ball to the basket."

Carmel 25, Palatine 22: The Carmel girls basketball team's pressure defense and clutch offense from senior guard Aubrey Simmons proved to be a powerful combination Thursday against Palatine in the Blue Devil Holiday Tournament.

Simmons scored the final 5 points of the game in Carmel's 25-22 comeback victory in the first tournament game for each team.

"She won the game for us at the end," Carmel coach John Ryan said.

Carmel cut its deficit to 22-20 on a basket by senior guard Caitlin Hendricks with 2:25 left. Carmel trapped the rest of the game and forced Palatine into turnovers and tough shots.

"Our trademark is our pressure defense," Ryan said. "We were stopping them, but the problem was we weren't scoring. We wanted to create some easy opportunities off our pressure."

A Simmons layup tied the score at 22-22 with about one minute left. Carmel junior Lauren Lehocky came up with a steal and quickly passed it to Simmons. Simmons was fouled in the act of shooting and she made the free throw for a 3-point play.

The teams traded turnovers and Carmel had to withstand a pair of 3-point attempts by Palatine before the victory was secured. Palatine was 0-for-16 from behind the arc.

"We knew we needed stops late in the fourth quarter," Simmons said. "They started to panic a little."

After scoring 8 consecutive points to take a 12-6 lead after the opening quarter, the Pirates managed 10 points combined in the final three quarters.

"We have to start believing in ourselves or the results aren't going to change," Palatine coach Ron Theberge said. "The effort was there; we played hard enough to win. We have to keep plugging away."

Junior Kate MacFabe certainly did her part. She scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. She also blocked 3 shots.

"I was very impressed with her rebounding, and she moves well for a big girl," Ryan said.

Carmel meets Warren at noon Saturday, while Palatine will try for its first tournament victory at 3 p.m. against Niles North.

"We've been in a rut," MacFabe said. "It's pretty frustrating, but I'm optimistic for the rest of the tournament."

-- Bob Gosman

Hoffman 40, Crystal Lake C. 13: Megan Evans (10 points) and Carol King (9) paced the Hawks (9-5), who improved 2-0 in the McHenry tournament.

"Carol King had a real nice game," said Hawks coach Mike Nocella, whose club plays the host Warriors at 8 p.m. today. "She got a couple of layups on breakaways and hit a 3-pointer."

Montini 57, Barrington 36:ΠLianne Davis scored 9 points with a pair of 3-pointers to pace the offense for host Barrington (3-11) in the second-round game of the Suburban Holiday Showcase.

Emily Harris scored 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Fillies while Samantha Beach had 6 points and 3 steals.