Meadows wins OT thriller

Wednesday's Mid-Suburban League girls basketball championship featured an ending that hasn't been seen in the game's 39-year history.

And it finished with a champion which hadn't won a title in 38 years.

With time winding down in overtime, a well-guarded Jackie Kemph dished the ball out of the paint to teammate Alexis Glasgow, who was standing near the 3-point stripe.

The Rolling Meadows sophomore, one of the area's top 3-point shooters, saw an opening.

So she opted to dash to the basket for a layup that beat the clock and gave the East champs one of the most dramatic title-game victories, 52-51, over West champ Fremd in Palatine.

But now for that unique ending.

Fremd fans apparently misinterpreted the officials' signals and thought the final shot had been waved off after the buzzer. They rushed the floor and began celebrating with the Viking players.

Within a minute, though, officials straightened things out and Meadows began its celebration of the school's first championship in three tries. The Mustangs had previously played for title in 1975 and 1994.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Vikings, who had taken a 51-50 lead on 2 free throws by junior Bernie Williams with 14.3 seconds left in OT.

Meadows (24-4) then came down the court to score on what coach Todd Hatfield called a broken play.

"I knew Alexis was a little frustrated because she wasn't making her shots in the second half," Hatfield said. "But she went to the rim in the biggest moment of the game and hit the biggest shot of her career."

"I knew there wasn't much time left," said Glasgow, who finished with 15 points (11 in the first half). "I just saw an opening and I was happy the ball went in."

Kemph, the MSL East Player of the Year who scored 20 points, had confidence in her classmate.

"I had people all over me and I knew if I got her the ball, she'd go straight to the basket," Kemph said. "She's so strong. She's such a great driver."

There were great drives and shots all night as the two teams made sure the fans got their money's worth start to finish.

Freshman Haley Gorecki led the Vikings with 20 points while MSL West Player of the Year Ashley McConnell had 19, including 3 3-pointers in the first quarter.

The first eight minutes could not have been more exciting as Fremd led 23-22.

"I told the girls between quarters that there was good news and bad news," Hatfield said. "The bad news is we gave up 23 points and we wanted to hold them under 15 each quarter. The good news is we had 22 points. So it balanced itself out."

"How exciting was this game?" said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "The first quarter was an offensive display. Obviously, we got the first part of the quarter (Fremd led 12-4) and they got they got the second."

Meadows led by 4 points twice in the second period, once on Ann Marie Lynch's drive for a layup (27-23) and another on Jenny Vliet's rebound layup (33-29).

Gorecki's 17-footer with two seconds left in the second quarter got Fremd to within 33-31 at half.

McConnell's driving layup gave Fremd a 40-39 lead after three quarters and the Vikings went ahead 45-41 when Gorecki fired home a 3-pointer with 4:35 left in regulation.

A driving layup and 2 free throws by Kemph tied the game at 45 before Fremd (21-5) edged ahead 47-45 on a bank shot by Gorecki off an assist from Marilyn Lortz (5 points).

Kemph went to work again with a driving layup that rimmed in with 49 seconds left to tie the game. Fremd's' 3-point attempt at the fourth-quarter buzzer was just a little long, sending the game to an extra session.

"Throughout the game there was big shot after big shot," Yates said. "I think it was fitting it went to overtime because both teams were deserving."

An off-balance layup by Kemph and free throw by Vliet gave Meadows a 50-47 lead in OT with 1:57 left.

McConnell came up with a huge steal and layup with 1:20 left to cut it to 50-49.

Lortz pulled down a big rebound on Meadows' next possession and Fremd called for a timeout.

With under 15 seconds left, Vikings senior Jessi Wiedemann got the ball down low to Williams, who was fouled, setting up the two biggest free throws of her career.

"I couldn't be more proud of Bernie to step up and hit those," Yates said. "They were gigantic. They put us in a position to win and you can't ask anything more of her."

Hatfield said he couldn't ask anything more of his seniors.

"This finally solidifies Rolling Meadows girls basketball and puts us on the map," said Hatfield, who also got quality minutes from seniors Amanda Gunn (5 points) and Josie Suchecki. "This is for everyone who went through the program.

"And I wouldn't have wanted it against anyone other than Fremd. Dave Yates has been fantastic to me. I consider him a friend on and off the floor."

The friends wouldn't mind seeing each other's teams one more time.

"This was a good test for us for the future." Yates said. "I'm hoping there is one more rematch in the end. First, we've got work to do. But this game had a sectional atmosphere."