Girls basketball: Buffalo Grove closes in on MSL West title

First place Buffalo Grove remained perfect in Mid-Suburban West play with a 55-35 road win over Conant as standout sophomores Kayla Daiguird and Olivia Hill combined for 17 points Wednesday evening in Hoffman Estates.

“We started the year with two simple goals: Work hard, support your teammates. And they bought into it,” said Bison coach Martha Kelly. “The culture has been great. They're supporting each other. They're working hard…We set some good goals for them. Our goal was to win the division.”

“We're not surprised at where we are right now,” she added. “We set a goal, and we went out to achieve it.”

That’s exactly what they did in this one, as it was all Bison (17-7, 7-0) out the gate, with Daiguird connecting on two early three-pointers to jump start the offense.

Senior forward Hannah Weber matched her point guard's 6-point opening quarter on her way to a team-leading 12-point night as Buffalo Grove raced out to a 16-8 advantage as the first buzzer sounded. The Bison never looked back.

“It feels great. We made a lot of big improvements from last year, so I think we're all just really happy that we're doing really well this season,” said Daiguird. “We have a really good team chemistry going.”

Both Daiguird and Hill were on the varsity roster last year as freshmen when the team went 12-19 with a 4-6 conference record.

“We really try to work on that culture aspect, and it's really helped since last year,” said Hill. “We just have moved forward onto that, and we came together really well.”

Hill made an impact down low for Buffalo Grove, patrolling the glass and providing offense from both within the paint and outside the arc.

She knocked down a three-pointer with 7:22 to play in the second quarter to increase the Bison lead to 21-8. At 6-foot-2, her ability to play both inside and outside proved to be a difference maker.

“She can bring the ball up the floor, she can stretch, and knock down the outside shot,” said Kelly about her young forward. “She can also finish on the inside. She's got all the tools.”

Combined with fellow 6-2 forward Weber, size created matchup problems for Conant as the duo opened up space for their teammates to cut to the basket.

“We just try to try to be physical, try and keep them away from the basket as much as possible,” said Conant coach Todd Strauch. “We try to pressure the ball just to keep it out of their hands.”

Another Buffalo Grove sophomore, guard Litsa Karavitis, scored 10 points and helped the Bison stretch their lead to 48-22 entering the fourth quarter.

However, Conant did not roll over. The Cougars kicked off the final period by going on a 12-2 run that cut the lead back down to 16.

The Cougars surge was led by senior forward Lyla Clifton, who finished the night with 11 points.

“Lyla’s a great athlete,” said Strauch. “She's been a great leader this year. She's athletic. She likes to get up and deny passes, and that's kind of what started it. And once she gets one, then she kind of gets going and does a good job after that.”

Despite Clifton’s best efforts, the Cougars were unable to get too much closer. Her team will look to rebound with Thursday night's matchup against visiting Elk Grove. The Cougars won their first meeting with the Grenadiers 55-33 back on Dec. 19.

As for Buffalo Grove, they have begun to think about battling in postseason environments.

“We try to get the loudspeakers going [in practice] so we can have that pressure and that rumble throughout the crowd,” said Hill.

“We're expecting to go as far as we can,” added Kelly. “I've set the bar high for them.”

“We want to win the division. We want to compete for the MSL Championship, and then we want to make a run,” she said. “Regional championship, sectional championship. You know, the way I look at it is, why not us? Why not? I'm just trying to get the girls to buy in and believe.”