Llorens, Grayslake Central charge to victory

She's known for her soft shooting touch under the basket and ability to rebound and run the floor, but 6-foot-1 Rebekah Llorens also knows how to take a charge.

The Grayslake Central senior took a juicy one, so to speak, early in the first quarter of the Rams' 62-30 rout of visiting Woodstock in a Fox Valley Fox Division game Tuesday night.

So juiced-up was Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn that he pumped a fist and yelled, “There you go!” after Woodstock's athletic Chrissy Velasquez knocked over Llorens in the lane and was whistled for the offensive foul.

“That's the most unselfish play in basketball stepping in and taking that charge,” Ikenn said. “I think that really can fire up the team, so I love when we do that.”

The Rams were equally as pumped up as their coach, since every time a player takes a charge, she gets rewarded at practice with a bottle of fruit juice (apple or orange) of her choice from the vending machine.

It's the Rams' new “team ritual,” Llorens said.

“Everyone on the bench yells, ‘Juuuuice!' ” junior Skyler Jessop said.

Grayslake Central (8-2, 4-0) never let its defensive intensity relent against Woodstock (4-6, 1-2), which allowed 41 points to Melissa Dixon on Saturday night but lost to Johnsburg by only 14 points.

The Rams' first-quarter defensive highlights also included Maddy Miller forcing a five-second violation and 5-7 Alex Scarbro blocking 2 shots, notching 2 steals and forcing a Blue Streak to travel.

Llorens, who posted game bests of 14 points and 12 rebounds, had 8 points and 8 rebounds in the first quarter alone.

“When you're more defensive-minded, those (rebounding) numbers just go up,” Llorens said.

The win was the Rams' sixth in a row and first at home in their first home game.

“Our first white jerseys,” Jessop said excitedly.

“We were like, ‘Oh, we get to bring white today,' ” Llorens added with a laugh.

As it had done in nine previous road game, Grayslake Central used a balanced scoring attack, with Jessop scoring 9 points, Miller adding eight and Scarbro tallying seven. The hosts built a 29-7 lead by halftime and extended the advantage to 52-16 after three quarters.

“I think we're OK with where we are now, but we know we could be a lot better,” Jessop said.

“It's a game-by-game thing,” Llorens said. “There are different things to work on against different teams.”

Woodstock received 8 points and two 3-pointers apiece from Callie Buchanan and Rachel Parisek.

Grayslake Central's 5-6 Roxy Acoff hustled for 10 rebounds coming off the bench, and 13 Rams hit the score sheet.

“It's a nice way to start the home career,” a smiling Ikenn said.