Sweet outcome for Sauer, Grayslake N.

One small, funny, stumble for Brooke Sauer.

One giant step for the smiling senior and her Grayslake North basketball teammates.

"She stepped up," coach Jim Sarver said after Sauer's game- and season-high 15 points and 6 rebounds led the Knights to a 51-38 win over Grant in a Mundelein Lady Mustangs Turkey Shootout game Saturday.

It was the first win of the season for Grayslake North, which went 0-3 in round-robin play.

"Finally," Sauer said. "We've had some close games. It feels good to be on top for once."

Early in the fourth quarter, with Grayslake North up 36-26, Sauer stole the ball at half-court and drove in for a layup.

One of her feet landed on top of one of the feet of Grant defender Morgan Jahnke.

Sauer fell to the ground, uninjured, while dribbling the ball off her body and out of bounds.

Sauer smiled a sheepish smile. Jahnke smiled a sympathetic smile.

"I kind of just tripped, honestly," Sauer said. "But it's all fun and games. When you're winning, you can't help but smile when you make a mistake."

Jahnke helped Sauer up, and the fallen opponent appreciated the gesture.

"She asked me a few questions to see if I was OK," Sauer said. "Everybody is looking out for each other. So it's fun."

Sarver simply appreciated Sauer's effort.

"Great steal, Brooke!" he shouted from the bench. "Do that again."

Sauer, who along with classmates Katie McGrath and Sara Steinhoff has been on varsity since she was a freshman, shot 7 of 11 from the floor and sank her lone free throw.

The 5-foot-9 forward was aggressive on drives to the basket and running shots in and near the lane.

Her 13 points in the first half had Grayslake North up 27-17.

"My seniors need to play well," Sarver said.

A lot of Knights contributed against Grant (1-3). Kendall Detweiler drained four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Joanna Guhl had 9 points and 10 rebounds, 5-3 Jordyn Bowen hustled for 8 rebounds, 5-4 Allie Ceglarek had a fourth-quarter swipe one of her 3 steals and layup, and 6-1 senior Christina Freese scored all 5 of her points in the fourth.

The Knights turned the ball over just 14 times.

"I think our turnovers were way down," Sarver said. "We valued the possessions, which is what we talked about all day (Friday) at practice. We also talked about finishing shots, which we did."

Jahnke led Grant with 12 points, while Kassie Stimpson added 10. Caitlin Wedge contributed 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.

"The girls had a lot of great effort, and that's really all we can ask out of them," Grant coach Matt Lukemeyer said. "Three of our four games we've had trouble getting off to a fast start. We had one game (against Tinley Park) where we had a really fast start, and that's the game we won."