Girls basketball: Grayslake Central, St. Viator advance to 3A sectional final

The pressure was on Tuesday night at the Class 3A Grayslake Central girls basketball sectional semifinals, but the host Rams once again showed that they were ready to play under the bright lights against Vernon Hills.

Grayslake Central (22-9) only led 9-6 after one quarter, but it built a 26-17 lead at halftime before taking a 38-25 lead over the cold-shooting Cougars into the fourth quarter.

Vernon Hills (22-8) cut the lead to 42-32 on a 3-pointer by Eve Engler with 3:32 to play. But that was as close at the Cougars would get as the Rams were able to salt away a 51-39 victory to advance to the sectionals finals Thursday at 7 p.m. against St. Viator.

Senior Mosey Drevline was a big part of Grayslake Central's first half success as she scored 10 of her 12 points. Vernon Hills junior Emma Jocson scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, but senior teammate Keira Thomas (5 points) picked up her third foul with 3:47 left in the second quarter.

The Rams continued to add to their halftime lead as a 3-pointer by Addison Thomas (5 points) made the score 35-21 before junior teammate Peyton Hoffmann (team-high 14 points, 13 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer to boost the lead to 38-23 with 59 seconds left in the period.

"We knew it was not going to be an easy game from the start, and we had to get after it right away," said Hoffman, whose team outrebounded the Cougars 37-30. "It's definitely going to be a tough game (against St. Viator), and we have to play team basketball and play our own game."

Both teams struggled with their shooting as the Rams hit 15-for-41 from the field (37%) to only 15-for-52 (29%) for Vernon Hills. The Cougars were 4-for-25 from 3-point range (16%).

"It was an awesome season, but a disappointing ending," said Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner. "We missed a lot of shots early. They did a great job guarding Engler, and we did not do a good job responding to how they guarded Engler."

Freshman Lucy Otoo had 8 points and 6 rebounds for the Rams while teammate Ava Henne had 7 points. Madison Mays had 6 points for the Cougars while Autumn Aliff had 5 points for the Rams. Central is going for three sectional titles in a row and four crowns since 2020.

"We kept them from getting on a run, and Ava (Henne) did a great job guarding Engler," said Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn. "They're a good shooting team and I think we did a good job of making them take shots under duress."

St. Viator 47, Wauconda 38: In the second semifinal St. Viator jumped all over Wauconda in the first half as the Lions built a sizable 24-11 lead at the intermission.

The Bulldogs were unable to cut into that lead as St. Viator extended its lead to 43-27 entering the fourth quarter. Wauconda (26-3) tried to put together a late comeback as it cut the lead to 44-36 on a 3-pointer by Alexia Manalo with 1:36 to play.

But the Lions (20-14) were never seriously threatened after that point as the held off the rally for a 47-38 victory.

Junior Bella Gounaris was a huge part of St. Viator's first half success as she scored 10 of her game-high 16 points before halftime.

Junior Kalin McCrea was another big factor for the Lions as she hit double figures with 13 points, including a free throw with 45 seconds to play to give St. Viator a 45-36 lead.

"Before the game we talked about really setting the tone early and we had a great first half," said Gounaris. "We've gone against them (Grayslake Central) the past two years (at sectionals), and we just have to be prepared and keep playing like we've been playing."

Wauconda got 10 points apiece from junior Avery Geoghan and freshman Sophie Giles. St. Viator's Ava Garcia scored 8 points while teammate Gabriella Scaravalle scored 6 points. The Bulldogs got 5 points each from senior Sarah Palmer and junior Alessandra Rodriguez.

"We play such a tough schedule so we're battle-tested every week and they persevered," said St. Viator coach Kyle Braheny. "We know them (Grayslake Central) very well. This place is going to be loud and I think it's going to be a great game. I'm looking forward to it."

Wauconda's slow start really hurt them as it could never seriously cut into the deficit until late in the fourth quarter.

"We took the first half off and you can't take the first half off in a sectional game," said Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis. "It creates a big hole, we cut into it a little bit and we made our push finally in the fourth quarter but we just ran out of time."