Lake Zurich bests Maine West in Sweet Sixteen

During the off-season, Lake Zurich's Lydia and Audrey Bauer play for an AAU team directed by Maine West girls basketball coach Derril Kipp.

"It was nice to see him again," Audrey said. "He's a great guy. He's a great coach. And it's fun to play on his team."

Audrey and Lydia also have fun playing for coach Chris Bennett at Lake Zurich.

The entire Bears team had fun Tuesday night in Des Plaines as senior Lydia (17 points) and junior Audrey (15) combined for 32 points in a 54-35 Sweet Sixteen tournament victory.

Bradley-bound senior Olivia Allen added 8 points for the Bears, who improved to 18-5 and 2-0 in the tournament.

"My shooting was off," said Allen (4 points), a 5-foot-6 guard who made her impact with some nice assists and rebounds. "I had slippery hands. But we know we can all rely on each other. The only thing I could do was rebound and get assists."

Allen did those quite well, as did all her teammates who got the ball into the posts.

"We lost to Libertyville Saturday night and did not shoot well," Bennett said. "We talked about getting the ball inside and getting better shot selection.

"I thought we got some good interior passes and did a better job shooting. And that's tough when you're going against Maine West's matchup zone defense, which Derril has been playing for what, about 40 years?"

The Warriors are now 12-12 under the Hall of Fame Maine West coach.

"We didn't accomplish much in this game except that it was parents' night and we were able to get everyone into the game," he said. "When you can't make shots, you don't run your offensive properly and can't do the fundamental things, you're going to have trouble winning and that's what has been happening to us. Lake Zurich is very good team and it has a chance to do something in its sectional."

The Bears did something very well in the first half - play defense. They did not allow West a point from 6:23 of the first quarter to 6:25 of the second quarter when junior Megan O'Neill hit a driving bank shot to bring West to within 14-7.

But the Bears extended the lead to 26-13 by half as freshman Amanda Orchard hit a 17-footer with 10 seconds left.

Both coaches played the reserves for most of the final quarter.

Senior Theo Papastratakos' 15-footer capped the scoring for the Bears and brought loud applause from their team bench.

"Theo and all our reserves are good," Allen said. "We cheer for everyone. It's nice to see them play. They deserve to get some points."

Junior Gabby Chappa added 8 points for the Bears while junior Sarah Stauner, sophomore Karlissa Skarb and freshmen Maise Cox also had baskets.

Junior Samantha Acosta (7-of-8 free throws) led Maine West with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter while senior teammate Shaina Yalda, back from a concussion, added 6.

"We couldn't give her (Acosta) an inch," Allen said. "We had to stay right on her. When she gets going, she can really start hitting."

Grayslake North 45, Lakes 35: Thanks to double-figure scoring by Lauren Erickson and Kelsi Leith, Grayslake North got the nonconference victory. Erickson had 13 points while Leith added 11 points. Erickson also had 14 rebounds. Asja Triplett led Lakes with 12 points.