Time is on Vernon Hills' side

New season, same ol' Vernon Hills' girls basketball team.

The Cougars produced a defensive effort Thursday night that has become the norm over the years. They improved to 2-0 in their own Thanksgiving tournament by stifling Ridgewood 46-12.

The hosts led 18-9 at the half, allowed only 3 points in the third quarter and shut out the Rebels in the fourth.

"We try and work on our defense a lot in practice," Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. "We have some young kids and they have to get used to playing varsity defense for 32 minutes."

Vernon Hills has only two seniors back from last season.

"We're young, especially our guards," Brettner said. "We're looking for them to step up and become more consistent for us."

Vernon Hills 6-foot-2 sophomore Meri-Bennett-Swanson led all scorers with 14 points and also grabbed 9 rebounds.

"We have a brilliant team defense," Bennett-Swanson said. "We play off our guards, who help us on defense."

Brettner tipped his hat to Bennett-Swanson, who made the all-conference team last season.

"Most people know Meri from last year," Brettner said. "She works very hard and has come along way from her freshman year."

Cougars freshman Lauren Webb added 9 points, 5 steals and 5 assists.

"We couldn't have done it without our coaches, who focus on defense," Webb said.

Vernon Hills started slowly offensively but gradually picked it up and scored 18 points in the third quarter.

"It was a big team effort," Bennett-Swanson said. "We finally got some momentum."

Vernon Hills junior Abby Springer chipped in 8 points, including a 3-pointer, while freshman Sydney Smith and junior Julie Pecht each had 4 points.

Senior Tara Coyle led Ridgewood with 6 points on a pair of 3-pointers.