Round Lake falls to Zion-Benton in title game

Going after the tournament championship was in the minds of Round Lake's girls basketball team starting the season. The Panthers made a pretty good push trying to net the title. However, Zion-Bentons had some other ideas in leaving a sting on the Panthers, as the Zee-Bees downed Round Lake 49-37 in the Maine East Girls Thanksgiving tournament title game in Park Ridge on Monday night.

The Panthers (3-1) still have a lot on the table by taking three of four games opening up the season while the Zee-Bees improved their mark to 4-0 with the championship.

"The girls played really well and this was a good challenge for us," Round Lake coach Molly Hennig said. "Zion-Benton was a very talented team. It was good to see what we need to work on and where to go from here."

Round Lake was led by freshman Taylor Major with 11 points and 4 rebounds. However, the Panthers had a scare when she went to the floor after making a one-handed pass downcourt early in the fourth quarter. She was helped to her feet and according to Hennig it might be a sprained knee.

Giselle Raygoza added 7 points and Isaly Irizarry had 6, each off the bench, and Diane Flade chipped in with 6.

Zion-Benton was led by a couple of girls that are new to the team this year as transfers. Morgan Callahan (St. Joseph, WI) had a game-high 22 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and Ranya Jamison (Carmel) 13 points and 4 steals.

"When you have someone as good as Callahan," Hennig said, "you have to be good enough to box her out and not give her second chances."

Round Lake was in the game for most of the first half. The Panthers trailed 9-6 after the first eight minutes. The Panthers closed within a points a couple of times in the second quarter at 9-8 and 14-13. But, the Zee-Bees ended the half with a 10-4 run and led 24-17 at the break.

The Zee-Bees applied some pressure on the Panthers with a full-court press in the third quarter, forcing some turnovers and outscored the Panthers 16-9 for a 40-26 lead.

"It was good to win the championship, but we started without energy," Zion-Benton coach Tanya Johnson said. "We pulled out the win that's all that matters. Round Lake extended on us and we were just standing there. They were the ones fighting out there. I expect our conference (North Suburban) will be tough if we don't get this cleaned up."