Elk Grove posts a victory over Addison Trail
Addison Trail girls basketball coach Rob Schrader was quick to determine why Elk Grove moved on Tuesday's semifinals of the Class 4A Addison Trail regional.
"They (Elk Grove) had two good size post players, and if you can't deny them the entry passes you are going to have a tough time," he said.
Sure enough, Grenadiers senior posts O'Rayn Macavoy and Amber Lindfors made the most of their time inside.
Macavoy collected a game-high 20 points with 12 rebounds while Lindfors added 9 points with 16 rebounds to help the No. 16 seeded Grens post a 49-28 victory over the No. 20 Blazers (4-25) in Addison on Monday night.
The Grens (9-19) will face the Geneva sectional top seed Conant (21-5) in Tuesday's 6 p.m. semifinal in Addison. No. 8 seed South Elgin faces No. 9 Batavia in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal.
Conant topped Elk Grove 39-25 in early December this season.
"O'Rayn knows how to use her body well, how to square up to the basket and how to finish," said Jen Guth, who notched a regional win in her first season as Elk Grove's coach. "She has been playing so hard and with so much heart.
"She and Amber have been playing so well together. They've combined for a lot of big points and our guards are doing a good job of getting them the ball."
Monday's game was tied at 5-5 when Macavoy grabbed a rebound and put back a 6-footer from the baseline for a 7-5 lead.
On the Blazer's next possession, Lindfors swatted away a 15-foot shot attempt for her first of 4 blocked shots.
Addison Trail retrieved the blocked ball, but on its next shot, Lindfors grabbed the rebound.
Then at the other end of the court, Lindfors caught an entry pass and alertly tossed it back out to an open Mackenzie Flannery, who drilled the 3-pointer for a 10-5 lead.
Elk Grove never trailed again.
The Grens gradually pulled away in the second quarter, getting their biggest lead at 24-11 thanks to a 3-point play by Lindfors and a steal and layup by Flannery.
"I thought we slowed it down instead of going at the pace they wanted and that worked out for well for us," said Macavoy, who was 1 point shy of her season-high 21 points against Hoffman Estates two games back.
"The guards were looking inside and Amber was giving me the ball, too," Macavoy added. "It was team-play all-around."
Marjorie Sloan played her part in the third quarter, coming up with a 3-pointer and a long drive to the basket for a layup which made it 38-17.
Alex Masnica also had a 3-pointer for the Grens in the first quarter while Sara Engler had a pair of key buckets.
The Grens limited the Blazers to single-digits in three of the four quarters.
"I was happy with our man-to-man defense," Guth said. "The girls were moving their feet well and communicating. It was just team defense. Our goal was also to outrebound them and we did that.
"We just wanted to make a statement that we can play with the top teams in our sectional and now we get a chance to hopefully show that (today against Conant)."
Addison Trail was led in scoring by Rachel Baumgartner (8 points) and Maria Koulogeorgas (7).
"We had some open shots in the first half but we didn't hit them," Schader said. "We just got beat up on the boards."