Driscoll escapes in OT to remain unbeaten

Driscoll is definitely not a morning team.

The Highlanders sleep-walked through the first three quarters of Monday's opener at the 19th annual McDonald's Shootout in Villa Park before pulling out a 64-61 overtime victory against Kokomo (Ind.).

"I think it was morning," sophomore guard Kasey Reaber said, blaming the 10 a.m. tipoff to the first of seven games at Willowbrook High School. "We were all tired still, might have been out late, I don't know. But we came out, got motivated, did what we had to do, got the job done."

Kokomo (8-7) scored the game's first 11 points, and the lead peaked at 15 in the third quarter.

"We didn't play together," Reaber said. "We were frustrated with each other, we were yelling at each other. It wasn't just our game. We knew we were better."

Part of the problem was shooting over the Wildkats' 2-3 zone sagging on Highlanders center Courtney Lindfors. Driscoll (20-0) made just 2 of 21 3-point attempts in the first three quarters.

"We were cold," Reaber said. "They were hitting everything and we didn't hit anything. We were so cold from the 3-point line, but then Gigi (DiGrazia) started hitting all of her 3s, she started getting warmed up, and we came through when it mattered most."

The Highlanders' alarm clock went off at the start of the fourth quarter. They went on a 16-0 run, taking a 46-44 lead on DiGrazia's 2 free throws.

"We finally came out and did what we had to do," Reaber said.

"The fourth quarter, I thought the first couple of minutes for some reason we were kind of back on our heels a little bit, kind of letting time roll up," said Kokomo coach Jason Snyder said, "and that's not how you play, not how we got to that spot."

Kokomo responded well enough to force overtime, but Driscoll didn't need any more coffee by then.

After a Kokomo 3-pointer, the Highlanders scored the next 8 points in overtime, sealing the victory at the free-throw line by making 8 of 9 in the period. They made 18 of 23 in the game.

"That made a difference," Reaber said. "We usually are very good at free throws. We always practice them at practice. That's what we take pride in. And our defense was good."

Lindfors finished with 17 points, including 8 in the fourth quarter. DiGrazia added 16, Kasey Reaber 12 and Taylor Reaber 11.

"Obviously, we're excited about (being undefeated) and they come to play every day to try to keep that intact," Driscoll coach Steve McCuiston said.

"They've got a very good team, a balanced team," Snyder said. "Obviously, you look at Lindfors, when she comes in you have to take that away. They've got shooters, they've got balance. It's a very good team, there's a reason they're undefeated. They know how to win games down the stretch, and they did a very good job with that."