Saints top Streamwood; Whips in Harlem semis

Whether she was draining 3-point baskets or finishing off fast breaks with layups, Tasha Lalos definitely was on her game from the opening tip.

Lalos, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, connected on her first 7 shots from the field -- 6 of them coming in the first quarter -- when St. Charles East grabbed an 18-5 lead over visiting Streamwood.

She finished with a season-high 23 points while leading the Saints (6-4, 3-0) to a 52-41 Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball triumph over the Sabres (1-9, 0-3).

"I don't know -- I just had the openings," said Lalos, trying to describe her early shooting tear that included a pair of 3-pointers and 14 first-period points.

"I was wide open. They (the Sabres) weren't rotating over to find me or really anybody in the first quarter. And I like the 3-point line. I feel comfortable there."

Thanks to some nifty passes from Lexi Baltes (7 points, 4 assists), Jaime Rust (7 rebounds, 3 assists) and Lalos (8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists), the Saints turned a 4-3 lead into a comfortable 13-point advantage heading into the second quarter.

"Our team was the story in the first quarter," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra, whose team extended its winning streak to five. "I was happy with the way we pushed it down the floor and the way we played defense."

After falling behind by as many as 18 points late in the first half, the Sabres actually outscored St. Charles East 36-34 during the final 24 minutes -- pulling within 7 at 47-40 in the final 2 minutes.

But the damage was already done.

"The first quarter was the difference today," said Sabres coach George Rosner. "We came out and let No. 24 (Lalos) get loose and wild. We knew what we had to do on her, but we didn't do it.

"She took advantage of us and had a great first half."

Krissy Kunavich led the Sabres with 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Emma Schmidt added 9 points.

"We played much better in the second half," said Rosner. "It was a great effort."

Rosner also took solace with the return of senior point guard Ryanne Mark, who scored 2 points in a reserve role.

"It was Ryanne's first game back since her injury (high ankle sprain suffered in the first quarter of the Sabres' first game)," said Rosner. "She gave us a lift today."

Shannon Kennedy came off the bench to score 7 points for the Saints, who committed 19 of their 23 turnovers during the final 24 minutes.

"I think they walked off the court -- for a win -- with not that great of a feeling," said Drumtra. "We've got to eliminate some of the mistakes that we're making."

Hampshire 49, Rockford Christian Life 39: Senior Mallory Koster and freshman Alex Dumoulin each had 11 points to lead the Whip-Purs (6-3) to this quarterfinal win at the Harlem Christmas Classic.

Chrissy Heine added 8 points for Hampshire, which will take on Rockford Boylan at 5 p.m. Monday in the semifinals.

Burlington splits at Woodstock: Burlington Central defeated Marengo 40-35 in the first round of the Woodstock/Richmond tournament but then lost to Round Lake 35-34 in the second round.

Jordan Maisto scored 16 points to lead the win over Marengo.

Cory Bazany had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets (7-4) in their loss to Round Lake.

Waubonsie Valley 54, South Elgin 35: Undefeated Waubonsie jumped out to a 31-14 halftime lead and never looked back in downing the Storm in Upstate Eight Conference action.

Courtney Kumerow had 11 points to lead South Elgin (5-6, 1-2) while Dijon Smith and Genevieve Johnson added 8 points each.

CL South splits at Woodstock: Crystal Lake South fell to Round Lake 44-32 in its first game of the Woodstock/Richmond tournament before coming back to beat Richmond-Burton 62-32.

In the loss to Round Lake, Michelle Gaede led the Gators with 11 points.

In the win over Richmond, Gaede again led the Gators (7-5) with 13 points while Katie Burton and Carly Juliano added 11 each.

Lake Park 85, Elgin 26: Ellen Holton scored 12 points and Caris Alan added 6 but the Maroons (0-11, 0-3) were swept away by Lake Park in this Upstate Eight game.

Samantha Arnold led Lake Park with 26 points.

Elgin Academy falls twice: Elgin Academy (4-9) lost to Grant Park 38-30 in the Hilltoppers' first game of the Iroquois West tournament, then fell to Milford 51-37.

Lauren Steimle and Alyssa Pena each had 7 points for EA in the Game 1 loss. Pena led the Hilltoppers with 17 points, Steimle added 7 and Bianca Swegler had 10 rebounds in the Game 2 loss.

Timothy Christian 59, Westminster Christian 14:ΠThe Warriors (0-6, 0-3) fell in a Private School League game to Timothy Christian. Leading the Warriors was Sarah Rodger with 5 points. Hannah Graves also added 4 points.

Schaumburg 78, Lyons 26: Schaumburg coach Bill Murmann expects one thing from his girls basketball team: execution.

He got it Saturday.

Murmann's polished Saxons were a lot shinier than nonconference visitor Lyons Township -- and the Saxons ran away with a 78-26 win.

"(We wanted) execution, just like any other game," Murmann said. "I'm happy that we executed and did what we needed to do. I'm also happy that we got quality time for all 11 kids."

The Saxons (10-0) never trailed, and after an early 14-2 run that included baskets by Gabrielle Blackwell, Drewann Pancratz and Kylie Castans, the Lions never got closer than 11.

But the key to the game was more than just an offensive effort.

Defensively, the Saxons turned off everything the Lions could do. There was just one instance where Lyons scored back-to-back baskets.

"We wanted to play really good defense and execute on offense," Blackwell said. "I think we did both. We balanced it out. Usually, we are a really good offensive team and our defense lacks.

"Today, I think our defense really stepped up, which caused breakaways and layups -- easy stuff."

Blackwell (19 points) and Kylie Castans (18) led the way. Their games were so strong that at one point during the third quarter, they both had more points on the board than Lyons.

"We've been working hard on our defense," Murmann said. "Our defense created a lot of our offense today."

Sara Hoffman (8) and Olya Cholewick (6) led the Lions.

"We (played) really well," Blackwell said. Usually when we get lead like this, we let up in the second half. Today, we kept on pushing. Everyone contributed and did a good job today."

The Saxons' Rachael Kahan (10) and Siobhan Cerney (8) came off the bench and made big contributions in the second half. Starters Taylor Kosla and Pancratz dropped in 6 apiece.

Schaumburg also got some help at the free-throw line by converting 22 of 26 shots. Blackwell sunk 9 of 9.

"We've shot free throws like no other lately," Blackwell said. "We've been trying to work on free-throw percentage -- trying to get that up to at least 80 percent."

"I'm really happy with our effort," Murmann said. "This is as close as we've come to a complete game all year long."