Llorens lifts Grayslake Central to crown

They all drove from Chicago to Grayslake to watch her play basketball. An aunt. An uncle. A cousin. Friends with whom she had played AAU ball.

And Rebekah Llorens couldn't make a shot.

Thank goodness for her, it was only pregame drills.

“I was so excited for this game,” Llorens, Grayslake Central's senior center, said of the Rams' Class 3A sectional final on their home floor against Fox Valley Conference rival Johnsburg. “I missed a good deal of my warmup shots and I was like, ‘Oh, no. What does this mean?' ”

Answer?

It meant nothing.

Llorens overcame jitters and anxiety that had her, for maybe the first time in her basketball career, jumping up and down on the court well before the game to put together a career night and a particularly memorable one for the Rams.

Thirty-seven points.

Twenty rebounds.

Best yet for Llorens, her 37-and-20 effort lifted Grayslake Central to a 69-46 win Thursday night in front of a near-capacity crowd, earning the Rams their first sectional championship since they went downstate in 2004.

“I had so much energy that I didn't know what to do with myself,” said Llorens, standing tall among a sea of Grayslake Central players, family, students and faculty.

“It's such an amazing opportunity. I'm so thankful to be here with the girls and the coaches. I could not have asked for a better opportunity.”

Same goes for all the Rams.

With its 26th win in its last 27 games, Grayslake Central (28-3) advanced to Monday's 7:30 p.m. Hoffman Estates supersectional against Montini (33-1), a 56-27 winner over Belvidere North at Burlington Central.

It was Grayslake Central's third win in as many tries this season against Johnsburg (23-12), which trailed the entire night, including 16-11 after one quarter and 35-19 at halftime.

“We definitely thought it was going to be a really good game and a really close game,” said Rams senior forward Kat Dickson, who scored a basket and hustled for 5 rebounds.

“I told everyone before the game, ‘They say it's hard to beat a team three times. But if you're going to play a team three times, you have to beat them when it counts.' ”

Johnsburg had no answer inside for the 6-foot-1 Llorens, who scored 6 baskets on putbacks. She finished 14 of 21 from the floor and 9 of 15 from the stripe. Her point total was a career best.

“She's a beast,” Rams guard Skyler Jessop said.

Llorens also dished out 3 assists and drew a charge on a Skyhawks star Melissa Dixon.

“She played an incredible game,” Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn said of Llorens.

“Our guards gave her the ball in great position, but she finished. You can't give her enough credit.”

Dixon scored 23 points but missed her first 11 shots and didn't make a basket until thee was 2:13 left in the half.

By that time, Johnsburg trailed 31-15.

Jessop guarded Dixon most of the night.

“My job was just to face-guard her, try to not let her touch the ball and limit the shots she took,” Jessop said.

When Jessop went to the bench, Alex Scarbro defended Dixon.

“She's a great player,” Ikenn said of Dixon.

“She could go off at any second. But I thought Skyler and Alex did a real nice job on her. And we played good help-side defense. We didn't let her get on one of those rolls where she starts draining 3s. She had to work for her shots.”

Llorens didn't score every point for Grayslake Central. Scarbro and Jessop (two 3-pointers) finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

At game's end, after points came in waves, so did Llorens' family and friends. She soaked up every hug.

“She's unbelievable,” Dickson said of her teammate. “She just never gives up.”