Grayslake Central bests Grayslake North

The District 117 crosstown rivalry in all sports has been a battle, but in girls basketball the edge has been on the side of Grayslake Central.

Grayslake North had the idea this time of making it a bit of a surprise. The Knights were right there for the upset for nearly three quarters until a couple of Grayslake Central players - Dennison recruit MK Drevline, with a team-high 13 points including three 3-pointers, and Piper Gallaher (6 points and 7 rebounds) - warmed up like the weather outside in the final quarter.

Grayslake Central outlasted host Grayslake North 49-32 in a Northern Lake County Conference game in Grayslake on Tuesday night.

The Rams only had a 2-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter, 29-27, when freshman Tahj Bloom grabbed a rebound and put back 2 of her 9 points (she also had 12 rebounds). Then, in the final seconds off the inbound pass, Drevline found Gallaher cutting to the basket, where she made a buzzer-beating layup for a 33-27 lead.

"MK and I have a connection," Gallaher said. "I saw the opening and I have go there. I really didn't know the time to be honest. I just really wanted it. We had to find the pass and all I had to do was put the ball in."

Grayslake Central (5-1, 4-0) outdistanced Grayslake North 16-5 over the final 8 minutes.

"I thought we showed more patience later in the game," Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn said. "That's something we didn't show early in the game with our offense. So, we weren't shooting in rhythm and didn't get the shots we were looking for."

Monica Schleg also added 11 points for the Rams.

Sophomore Peyton Gerdes led the Knights with 15 points and 8 rebounds and expected the game was going to be a good one.

"It's definitely a rivalry and (Grayslake Central) has been a really good program," Gerdes said. "They always give 100 percent every time. It was a big game and we were close most of the time. It was a fun game and hopefully next year it will be a different outcome."

The Knights (4-2, 3-2) lost starter Grace Wamser before the game to an ankle injury.

"It hurt to lose one of our starters in warmups," Grayslake North coach Roger Lass said. "The girls responded well. I thought we were playing well and played good defense. (Grayslake Central) started to make some shots (fourth quarter)."