Cary-Grove knocks out Crystal Lake Central

Nicollette Richardi is proof rebounding is more about heart than height.

The 5-foot-2 Cary-Grove sophomore was the smallest player on the floor in Monday night's Class 4A McHenry regional quarterfinal girls basketball game with Crystal Lake Central.

That didn't stop Richardi from grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds as seventh-seeded C-G never trailed and won for the eighth time in nine games 63-44.

"Usually I grab someone and box them out as much as I can and go for it," Richardi said after leading the Trojans to a 40-39 rebound advantage. "This year I've (rebounded) better than usual."

Richardi also chipped in 6 points as the Trojans (12-16) jumped ahead 16-3 in the first 3:47 and led 58-32 with 2:44 to play. They figure to get another big effort from Richardi when they face rival Crystal Lake South (21-9) for the third time this season in today's 6 p.m. semifinal at McHenry.

"She gets aggressive like that and she's done that a lot this year," said C-G coach Rod Saffert, who won his 200th career game last week. "I don't care how small she is. I've told the kids since they were in fourth grade, it's not how tall you are, but how tall you play.'"

C-G also had to play at a much faster pace with No. 11 CL Central (2-24) making mass substitutions every 60 to 90 seconds and pushing the tempo for quick shots.

But the Trojans didn't waste any time breaking out to the lead. Olivia Miller (10 points) scored off the opening tip and Katie Sowa (7 points, 5 rebounds) and Maddie Gorz (7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) hit 3-pointers in the first 1:06 of the game.

Sophomore Vanessa Morris added 9 points and 7 rebounds off the bench in a game that was never in doubt but also never comfortable. The Trojans' 25 turnovers were only turned into 8 points by CL Central.

"We know we can play better," Saffert said. "After being around 23 years you get a little uptight about everything. We had a lot of turnovers that shouldn't happen and the kids know that."

Molly Steffen had a game-high 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range for the Tigers. They shot just 23 percent from the field (12-for-53), were 12-for-23 on free throws and had 32 turnovers turned into 25 points.

Now the Trojans will try to stay on a roll that includes a 51-29 win over CL South on Jan. 23.

"We've stepped it up, and we talked about it and felt we needed to push more," Richardi said. "We felt if we put more effort in shooting more and boxing out, we could do better."

West Aurora 42, Plainfield Central 35: Ashley Williams scored 18 points to lead West Aurora to a 42-35 win over Plainfield Central Monday night in the opening round of the Class 4A Yorkville girls basketball regional.

The Blackhawks (10-15) will take on Yorkville at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals.

DeKalb 38, Jacobs 35: Talia Surges had 14 points for Jacobs (10-17), which saw its season come to an end at the Class 4A Belvidere North regional.