Girls basketball: Vernon Hills downs Maine West to take CSL North lead

For the first time in her four-year varsity career, Keira Thomas is playing for a first-place team in the Central Suburban North.

Thomas and her classmate, Madison Mays, each scored 12 points to help their Vernon Hills girls basketball team (9-2, 4-0) take over sole possession of first place in the North with a 48-32 triumph over Maine West (7-3, 3-1) on Thursday night in Des Plaines.

"It feels great,“ said Thomas, who has also played on two runner-up teams in the North and one third-place finisher.

"We wouldn't have been here without everyone putting in their efforts. And we wouldn't be here without our coaches and our team is a family. We say we're on face time. Every time we are on the court we're talking. We're actually not playing, we're just talking."

And now they are the talk of the CSL North with their perfect record.

When senior Kaitlyn Nutley hit a 3-pointer with 4:02 left in the first quarter, Maine West was making some noise with a 5-2 lead.

But the Cougars went on an 8-3 run and never trailed again.

Junior guard Emma Jocson (8 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the visitors a 10-5 lead with 35 seconds left in the first period.

West's Dayliana Rodriguez hit a 10-foot bank shot in the lane to cut it to 10-7 before sophomore Eve Engler connected from long distance to make it 13-7 after one quarter.

"We've got enough kids who can make 3-pointers, which is nice, especially if they throw a zone at us," said Cougars coach Paul Brettner. "We had trouble getting the ball inside of their zone, so credit to them, but hopefully we'll get better at that the next time."

The Cougars added another 3-pointer from sophomore Reagan Brettner to make it 19-9 with 1:40 left until intermission. Two free throws by Mays increased the lead to 21-9 at the break.

Vernon Hills made it 23-9 to start the second half on a fastbreak layup by Thomas.

But the hosts dug in and used a 13-2 run to get to within 25-22.

Alyssa Philip started the big rally with a 3-pointer. Mariana Espinoza's 3-pointer got the Warriors to within 25-18 before Ava Roback's putback and Nutley's 16-footer from behind the free-throw line made it 25-22 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.

"It was a game of runs and I credit them (Maine West)," Paul Brettner said. "They came and hit some buckets when we didn't and stuck together, and we just managed to make a run later than that. So, that was nice."

Engler stopped the big run by hitting her second 3-pointer of the game, igniting a 17-0 run that put the game away. Thomas' 3-pointer and driving 6-foot floater made it 42-22 with 5:48 left in the game.

Maine West coach Deanna Tuttle was pleased with her team's defense.

"Vernon Hills is a great team," she said. "We knew that coming into it. I thought we played really great defense. They can score in a hurry, so when we started to turn it over, it gave them some opportunities to fastbreak us a little bit."

Rodriguez led West with 9 points while Nutley finished with 7.

"I thought she (Rodriguez) did great for us," said Tuttle of her 5-11 freshman. "She stepped up big time on Friday vs. Maine East, and then just kind of followed suit tonight. I thought Maddie Jackson off the bench had a lot of energy, and just she was super aggressive, going for balls on defense.

"Overall, for the most part, I thought our defense was solid. We had a few breakdowns that hurt us there."

Eight players scored for Vernon Hills, including freshman Courtney Wallace who hit a 3-pointer for the Cougars' final points.

Vernon Hills comes right back to play Friday as it opens play in the St. Viator Blenner Classic. The Cougars will face New Trier, coached by Stephanie Kuzmanic, the sister of Maine West coach Deanna Tuttle.