CL South turns back Wauconda rally
The girls from Crystal Lake South spent the first 28 minutes of Monday's basketball game building a 23-point lead against Wauconda and the last four minutes scrambling to keep it from completely vanishing.
CL South seemed destined for a lopsided victory after sophomore Molly Benoit splashed a 3-pointer to stake the Gators to their largest lead of the night at 52-29 with 4:46 to play.
But what looked like a laugher nearly became a nail-biter as the Bulldogs rallied behind a full-court press that was largely responsible for forcing 9 Crystal Lake South turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Wauconda used those miscues to fuel a 15-0 run that pulled it to within 52-44 with 51 seconds to play, but the Bulldogs missed a shot that could have trimmed their deficit to 6 points and the Gators eventually hung on for a 54-44 victory at Woodstock/Richmond-Burton's holiday tournament in Woodstock.
"I think that comes down a little bit to youth," said CL South coach Kyle McCaughn, who started two juniors and three sophomores. "We maybe became a little complacent near the end and needed to start taking care of the ball. They stepped up their pressure and we made some mistakes.
"I think when you have a team that's as young as we are, they have a tendency to lose it for a couple of minutes and all of a sudden a team that's disciplined like Wauconda hits some nice, open shots and sneaks right back."
Wauconda (6-4) got back in the game behind its three top scorers: 6-foot-1 junior center Lauren Mead, who finished with a game-high 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks, sophomore guard Kate Martino (12 points) and freshman guard Tammy Ellis (8 points).
Mead ignited the rally with 2 free throws and a 3-pointer before Ellis connected from long range. Martino later cut the deficit to 8 points with her steal and drive to the hoop with 51 seconds to play.
Jaclyn Schumann subsequently stole the ball on the press, but the Bulldogs missed a jumpshot that could have tightened the game further.
South's Michelle Gaede snared the rebound and the Gators controlled the ball for most of the final minute to improve to 2-1 in the tournament.
"I wish we'd played like the last four minutes for the entire game," Mead said of the late surge. "We had a very good fourth quarter, but I wish we would have stepped up and played the whole game like that. We came out very slow and South definitely came out with a lot of intensity."
Crystal Lake South (8-5) bolted to a 9-2 lead but Wauconda pulled within 15-12 after one quarter, thanks to 10 points from Mead.
The Gators' vigilant man-to-man defense held the Bulldogs to 6 points in the second quarter and 5 points in the third quarter. Meanwhile, South scored 27 points of its own to take a 42-23 lead heading into the final period.
"We played help-side defense really well," said South's Katie Burton. "We work really well as a team."
Carly Juliano scored 9 points for the Gators while Burton and Jessica Taldone posted 8 points apiece.
Crystal Lake South will next face Marengo in Woodstock on Friday at 6 p.m. Wauconda will play Burlington Central in Richmond at 5:30 p.m.