Wauconda's OT win over Vernon Hills seems like old times
Other than playing in Vernon Hills' gym, Wauconda senior Allie Tylka remembers no details about the last game she played against the Cougars.
It was, after all, three years ago. Tylka's freshman season was the last time Wauconda and Vernon Hills played each other in girls basketball.
The teams, which faced each other at least twice every season for more than a decade before the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division broke up, renewed their rivalry on Friday to open the 2019 portions of their seasons. It seemed like old times, as the nonconference game went to overtime, where host Wauconda won 57-54.
Tylka's 26 points, 6 rebounds and 7 steals led the way, as Wauconda improved to 13-3, while dropping Vernon Hills to 10-7.
"A battle until the (final) buzzer," said Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis, smiling. "We played a few of those overtime games."
There might not have been a better one than Wauconda's 42-37 win over host Vernon Hills in their regional final in 2011. Tammy Ellis' 20 points helped the Bulldogs prevail in 3 OTs.
Wauconda had pulled out another tight postseason game the previous season, winning a regional semifinal at Vernon Hills behind Kate Martino's 17 points. Wauconda won in OT during regular-season play in 2008-09. And way back in December of 2004, Vernon Hills beat Wauconda 24-22.
With Division-I players Tylka (Florida Atlantic) and Vernon Hills' Kayla Caudle (DePaul) on the court on Friday, this game didn't figure to be in the 20s.
Tylka scored 13 points, shooting 5 of 5, including a trio of 3-pointers, in helping the Bulldogs build a first-quarter lead. Her step-back 3 in the final minute had the hosts up 18-14.
Vernon Hills then held Tylka to 3-of-12 shooting the rest of the way.
"Credit to her, though," Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. "She affected the game in so many ways - picking a kid, stealing a pass, deflecting a pass, breaking out for a layup. That stuff just drives you mad."
Lauren Shores helped pester Tylka, who went 7 of 9 from the line. Tylka scored 3 points in OT, after Vernon Hills guard Piper Bedell (team-high 18 points) banked in a left-wing 3-pointer with 54 seconds left in the fourth to tie the score at 50-50.
"Starting in the second quarter and the rest of the game, they started face-guarding me so it was a little hard to get open," Tylka said. "Sometimes we didn't set screens on offense, so I tried to do backdoor cuts. But when someone is face-guarding you, it's hard to even get the ball."
Sophomore Ella Karg gave Wauconda the lead for good in overtime with a 17-footer with 52 seconds left. Freshman Jessie Pakaski (7 points, 5 rebounds) iced the win by sinking 2 free throws with 1.7 seconds on the clock.
Sophomore post Kiley Szmajda (5 rebounds) and Karg complemented Tylka with 10 and 9 points, respectively.
"The rest of our girls started off so slow, so (Tylka) didn't have any support," said Dennis, whose team hadn't played since Dec. 22. "She had to (score in the first quarter). I think she got gassed a little bit."
Tylka also guarded Caudle, who finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds. The senior post had missed Vernon Hills' last two games at the Libertyville tournament while doing mission work in Haiti.
"I've been playing against her my whole life, since feeder," Tylka said. "She's just a big, strong target. She knows how to box you out and get the ball from her teammates. You just have to work, get around it and force her to her left."
Vernon Hills guard Daniella Jarrell sank a pair of go-ahead 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. She finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Bedell buried four 3-pointers.
"We made some big shots and we made some plays to get to overtime," Brettner said. "But we left a possible win on the table, for sure, with a lot of mistakes we made."
Vernon Hills committed 22 turnovers and shot just 1 of 6 in OT.
"Thankfully, our defense held up. Which has not been the case all year," Dennis said. "Normally we're giving up 60, 70 points and a girl's career high."