Streamwood earns 2nd in UEC River
You would have had to excuse the girls basketball teams from Streamwood and St. Charles East if they were a bit lethargic and flat-out tired Saturday.
Heck, between them they had already played 8 games this week.
But the Sabres had energy early and the Saints grabbed some late to provide for an entertaining finish to the Upstate Eight Conference River Division season.
Seniors Michelle Tomczak and Emma Schmidt, playing their last game on their home floor, combined for 38 points to lead Streamwood to a 64-56 win, a victory that secured second place in the River for the Sabres, who continue to have their best season since 1987-88.
“It's been a long week,” smiled Streamwood coach George Rosner, whose team went 4-1 for the week and takes a 21-5 mark into next week's Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional.
While the game his team lost — to Geneva for the conference title — was clearly the one the Sabres wanted most, Rosner was happy his club bounced back from Thursday's 25-point setback to beat Batavia Friday night and the Saints Saturday to secure second place.
“There were no gimme games this week,” Rosner said. “The real key was to come back (Friday) night and show the kind of offense we did. We just had back-to-back 64-point games. Defensively we weren't at our best today but they were tired.”
The Sabres (10-2 UEC River) broke out of the gates quickly Saturday, grabbing an 18-4 lead after one quarter. Schmidt scored 9 of her 18 points in the opening period and sophomore Jessica Cerda hit two 3-pointers.
“We had a very cold start,” said Saints coach Lori Drumtra. “They came out shooting very well and Schmidt had a really nice first quarter. I wasn't unhappy with our looks and it wasn't turnovers. We just weren't hitting.”
Streamwood was — all day. The Sabres shot a sizzling 63 percent (24 of 38) for the day.
“I was concerned with how we'd start this game,” said Rosner, whose team plays host Dundee-Crown Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. in its regional opener.
“But we had our press going and we had our running game going. That was a really good start.”
The Saints (10-17, 4-8) played Streamwood even the final three quarters and even came within 4, 40-36, after RaeAnne Payleitner scored off a steal with 1:28 left in the third quarter. But Deja Moore (12 points) hit 2 free throws, Tomczak (20 points, 10 rebounds) scored and then hit a free throw to give the Sabres a 45-36 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. The Saints could come now closer than 7 the rest of the way.
Saints sophomore Paige Jordan had five 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 23 points, while Amanda Hilton and Morgan Vyzral had 10 points each for East.
The Saints suffered another injury blow late in the third quarter when Payleitner hit the floor hard after going for a rebound, reinjuring her right shoulder, which she previously hurt before Christmas. The Saints also lost senior Chanel Stephens to a Friday night injury. She was on crutches Saturday.
“She plays so hard,” said Drumtra of Payleitner, St. Charles East's all-state softball catcher. “She hits the floor for everything.”