Grayslake North nips Hampshire
Even with two of its top scorers for the game on the bench with four fouls, Grayslake North found a way to win.
Katie McGrath rebounded a missed free throw and scored to clinch the Knights' 39-35 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division girls basketball win in Hampshire Wednesday night.
Hampshire had gotten within a point on Jennifer Dumoulin's 3-pointer from the corner. With time running out, Dumoulin fouled Kendall Detweiler. Detweiler made the first free throw, but missed the second, apparently giving Hampshire a chance to tie or win. Then McGrath zoomed in for the rebound and putback.
Grayslake North (18-7, 6-3) maintained a narrow lead despite having Allie Ceglarek and Joanna Guhl on the bench for most of the fourth quarter after each picked up her fourth foul.
Both returned late in the game. Ceglarek wound up as the Knights' leading scorer with 11 points, while Guhl and Detweiler finished with 8 apiece. Guhl also grabbed 9 rebounds.
Michelle Dumoulin scored 9 points for Hampshire. Jennifer Dumoulin added 9, and Sara Finn finished with 6. Grace Jakubowski had 5 points and 5 rebounds for the Whip-Purs (14-12, 6-4).
With a large crowd in the stands and Hampshire's pep band playing at full volume, the Knights thrived.
"It's a great atmosphere," said Grayslake North coach Jim Sarver. "We talked at halftime about how much fun it is to play in a gym like this. We played a tough game (Tuesday) night against Waukegan. We came back tonight and I thought we had good energy."
Instead it was Hampshire that seemed a step slow.
"It was really disappointing, with so many mental mistakes on things we should have taken care of by this time in the season," said Hampshire coach Ed Haugens. "I've got nothing positive to say."
It was a seesaw game throughout, with 4 lead changes and 4 ties, the last at 30-30. Grayslake North jumped out to a 10-3 advantage, which turned out to be the largest lead of the game for either team. Hampshire led by as many as 5, at 23-18 on a 3-pointer by Jakubowski.