Girls basketball notes: Grant’s surge continues; Carmel’s Hartman about to make history

The Grant girls basketball team has turned the corner.

Coach Roger Lass’ team started the week on a 5-game winning streak, which right-quick turned a 6-9 record at one juncture into an 11-9 mark. The Bulldogs are also a solid 6-3 in Northern Lake County Conference action.

Lass noted the Bulldogs’ strong play can be attributed to multiple sources. Ryan Kadlec is the team’s leading rebounder along with Aubrey Lehner. Kadlec also leads Grant in deflections, plays great post defense “and is a great passer from the high post,” Lass added.

Lass said Sophie Connealy is the team’s unsung hero, “who does a lot of the little things,” he said. “Sophie plays multiple positions, can guard any of them, scores when she needs to and is an extremely unselfish player who does what it takes to win.”

Gabby Saavedra recently had back-to-back games of career highs of 14 and 16 points against Lakes and Round Lake, respectively. “Gabby is starting to really shoot the ball and runs the floor better than anyone,” Lass said.

Antioch update: The Sequoits split a pair of Northern Lake County games with North Chicago (won 62-23) and league frontrunner Wauconda (lost 56-42) and came into the week 9-13 overall and 5-4 in conference action.

Heidi Rathmann continues to lead the team in scoring (17.2 points per game) and rebounding (7 per game), while Scarlett Carroll averages 7.3 points and has team-highs in assists (3) and steals (3) per game.

Sophomore Reese Queensland averaged 9.6 points per game during a recent 3-game span, with a varsity career-high 14 points in the North Chicago win. During that same span, she averaged 6 rebounds. “Reese has been playing well lately,” Antioch coach Jamie D’Andrea said. “She’s been a positive force for both our offense and defense.”

During those same 3 games, senior Addie Webb averaged 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3.6 steals. “Addie is one of the hardest workers on the team and her teammates often feed off her energy,” D’Andrea noted.

Carmel Catholic update: The Corsairs are 7-3 since their Christmas tournament, moving to 18-7 overall and 6-2 in East Suburban Catholic action. Carmel downed Joliet Catholic 42-26 in a recent ESCC game.

Freshman Liv Johnson continues to impress, averaging a team-high 18 points to go with 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals. Senior Josie Hartman averages 2.5 assists per game.

The Corsairs are boosted by senior Maron Bowes, particularly on the offensive glass, where she averages 2-3 offensive rebounds per game “to give us extra possessions,” coach Ben Berg said. “Maron has consistently been a player on the offensive glass all year.”

Back to Hartman, she started the week 29 points away for 1,000 for her varsity career and Berg pointed out will be the only 3-sport athlete to accomplish this in the school’s history.

“Josie almost always guards one of the best perimeter players on the other team and has been the one to initiate our offense at the point-guard position all year,” he said.

Freshman Ada Lindal, Berg added, has seen her minutes increase over the last 5 games and had a nice outing in the JCA win where she recorded 7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 deflections and 4 steals in 30 minutes of action.

Grayslake Central update: Rams coach Steve Ikenn tipped his hat to 5-8 starting center Baily Betts, who is the team’s second-leading rebounder (4.7 per game).

“Bailey may only be 5-8, but she regularly guards our opponents’ biggest players and does a great job,” he said. “She plays tough post defense and boxes out well.”

Staying in the paint, junior post player Lauren Anguilm averages 3 points and 2.6 rebounds coming off the bench. “Lauren plays a big role for us coming off the bench,” Ikenn said. “She is a tough defender who works hard to get good defensive position, rebounds well and finishes at the basket.”

Central started the week 13-9 and was right there in the NLCC race with an 8-1 second-place mark. Recently, the Rams downed Lakes (53-36), Northside Prep (66-40), Grayslake North (46-29), Round Lake (58-36) and Prairie Ridge (65-24) and lost to Lincoln-Way Central (53-34).

Senor Peyton Hoffmann leads Central in scoring (14.5 points), rebounding (6.7), assists (2.7) and blocks (1.7), while Autumn Aliff leads the team in steals (2.5 per game).

“We have been playing defense more aggressively and forcing more turnovers lately,” Ikenn said. “This has enabled us to be able to score more points in transition and stretch leads to break open close games.”

Lakes update: Lakes coach Grant Murray pointed out his team lost to NLCC frontrunner Wauconda the first time by 36 points and lost by only 14 recently (45-31). The Eagles lost Grayslake North by 14 earlier in the season and lost the second time around by 3 points (44-41) and had the lead in the fourth quarter.

“Our record is what it is,” Murray said. “The team continues to improve with 2 freshmen and 5 sophomores playing prominent roles on the team.”

Lakes stood at 6-17 overall and 2-7 in NLCC action. The Eagles dropped a 54-31 nonconference game to Johnsburg Monday where Ryan Horvath scored 12 points and Gianna Gray had 8 points.

Gray leads the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game, while Natalie Floren is tops in rebounding at 6.4. Horvath average 1.6 assists, while Gray leads in steals at 2.6 and Ella Egmer has taken a team-high 9 charges.

Floren, only a freshman, has emerged as a rebounding force for the team, Murray explained. She had 11 rebounds against North. “What she lacks in age (14) she makes up for with body positioning and tracking the ball,” he said. “The ceiling is very high for her.”

And speaking of Egmer, a sophomore guard, she had a streak of 5 games recently where she took a charge. “Ella provides a spark off the bench as one of our top reserves,” Murray said. “She plays tough defense and isn’t afraid to put her body on the line for the team.”

Lake Zurich update: To start the week, Lake Zurich (16-8, 9-1 North Suburban) was 7-1 since the calendar turned to January with the only loss coming to Crown Point, Ind., at the Kipp’s Hoopsfest. Coach Chris Bennett emphasized Crown Point was a good team. Other recent wins came against Waukegan (47-43) and Barrington (55-43).

Leah Gilbertson leads Lake Zurich in scoring at 11.5 points per game, while Alex Nowak Tice is right there with her at 11.3 points. Nowak Tice leads the team in rebounding (9 per game), while Layne Nordstrom is leading the Bears in assists (4.1).

Bennett also likes how Kate Wahlund and performed in critical situations. “Kate has stepped up in big moments this year and put up big numbers when other teams focus on Leah and Alex,” he said.

Wahlund had 13 points against Lyons Township and 16 against Crown Point. “Two very good teams,” Bennett said. “She is also our flex defender on the floor, guarding guards and posts — whatever we need her to.”

Round Lake update: The Panthers (8-15, 1-8 Northern Lake County) recently took second in its own Martin Luther King tournament and also scored a 42-38 nonconference win over Highland Park.

Panthers coach Molly Hennig feels sophomore Aria Randolph, in only her third year of playing basketball, is just scratching the surface of her potential.

“Aria comes up with big hustle plays and creates a lot of turnovers based on her hustle,” she said.

Freshman Jacqueline Bahena Rivas, Hennig added, has become a consistent rebounding threat. “We moved Jacqueline up to varsity over winter break and she has been a huge presence on the boards,” Hennig said.

Bahena Rivas started the week averaging 5 points and 4 rebounds per game.

Emma Franks leads Round Lake in scoring at 10 points per game, while also averaging 4.8 rebounds, 6 deflections and 3.4 steals. Kalelgh Skowronski averages 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3 steals, while Brianna Arteaga averages 5.7 points, 3 rebounds and 2.9 steals.

Stevenson update: Stevenson recently went 2-1 with wins against Buffalo Grove (51-36) and Glenbrook North (54-47) and a loss to North Suburban leader Libertyville (60-36). The Patriots started the week 9-14 overall and 4-6 in NSC action.

“While we are not on a defined winning streak, our recent performances reflect the growth and competitiveness of our group,” Stevenson coach Regan Carmichael said.

During a recent 5-game stretch, Reese McLelland averaged a team-high 17 points per game to go with 3.7 assists. Alexa Karcz, Carmichael noted, has been a consistent presence on the boards, and leads the team at 6.2 rebounds per game. “Alexa has been our rebounding and post stalwart all season, anchoring both ends of the floor and providing stability offensively and defensively,” Carmichael added.

Senior Grace Harper has also been an unsung contributor for the Patriots. She’s headed to Washington University in St. Louis to continue her academic and soccer careers.

“Grace has brought tremendous competitive energy to our program,” Carmichael said. “She has willed us to wins through her toughness, leadership and ability to lead by example.”

Overall, Carmichael likes where things are headed. “What continues to stand out statistically and beyond the numbers is our resiliency,” she said. “Despite our record, we have responded well after tough losses and have held multiple recent opponents under 50 points. We are seeing improved balance offensively, stronger defensive execution and a growing commitment to sharing the ball and competing on the glass. That progress has been encouraging as we continue to move forward.”

Vernon Hills update: Coach Paul Brettner’s crew started the week still firmly ensconced in the top spot of the Central Suburban North with a 7-0 mark with 3 league games to go. The Cougars lost by 5 to Buffalo Grove recently (49-44) and defeated Northern Lake County Conference leader Wauconda 45-39 in a nonconference game.

In the Buffalo Grove win, Keira Thomas went over the 1,000 career point mark.

Eve Engler leads the Cougars in scoring at 11.9 points per game, while Emma Jocson averages 8.9 points.

Brettner paid high praise to Madison Mays, who averages 7.9 rebounds per game. “Madison is one of the best rebounders we have ever had,” he said. “She has a nose for the ball and the strength to hold opponents off. She also gets way more than 50% of the 50-50 rebounds and she does all this at 5-8.”

Senior Jazlyn Arce, Brettner noted, is usually the first sub off the bench for the Cougars and does “a lot of the dirty work — rebounding fighting for loose balls, screening,” he said. “She is also great for our team chemistry.”

And a number that jumps off the stat page, Brettner pointed out, Vernon Hills assists on about 65 percent of its hoops. “It is indicative of the offense we are trying to present,” he said.

Wauconda update: The Bulldogs started the week 19-1 and a perfect 9-0 in Northern Lake County play. Wauconda recorded recent wins against Lakes (45-31) and Antioch (56-42) and lost a nonconference game to Vernon Hills (45-39) without its leading scorer and a bench player.

Coach Jaime Dennis noted since Sarah Palmer has been sidelined by injury, “it has been a team effort to pick up her contributions with Alessandra Rodriguez (9.4 points, 5 rebounds), Alexia Manalo (8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists) and Avery Geoghan (9 points) being key cogs. Dennis called Wauconda’s rebounding a team effort.”

Dennis was also impressed with Kelsey Funkhouser’s defensive effort against Antioch’s top scorer Heidi Rathmann, who scored 11 points in the recent contest (about 6 points below her average). Funkhouser finished the game with 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block. “Kelsey stepped up defensively,” Dennis said.