Practice makes perfect for Meadows

Most teenagers don’t like waking up early on a day they can sleep in.

Heck, let’s be honest here.

No teenager likes waking up early on any day.

So, when the players on the Rolling Meadows girls basketball team had to show up for an 8 a.m. practice on Thursday morning, a day in which they had no school, they weren’t exactly in a cheery mood.

The cure for early-morning crabbiness?

Winning.

By Thursday night, the Mustangs had certainly grown to appreciate the early start to their day.

Rolling Meadows spent its entire two-hour practice on Thursday morning working on Libertyville’s trademark half-court and three-quarters-court traps. And it was being able to solve those traps that made the difference in the Mustangs’ 35-30 victory over Libertyville in the championship game of the Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic at Mundelein High School.

Rolling Meadows improves to 12-3 on the season and has now won 10 straight, a school record.

“We were not so happy about that practice at first,” said Rolling Meadows sophomore forward Jenny Vliet, who pumped in a team-high 13 points, including 2 three-pointers. “But after seeing what it resulted in, we’re happy.

“We aren’t used to getting trapped. A lot of people don’t do that to us. I think working on it in practice really helped.”

While clinging to a 32-30 lead with about three minutes left, Rolling Meadows was able to shave what seemed like an eternity off the clock by successfully swinging the ball around the perimeter and staying one step ahead of Libertyville’s traps.

By the time the Wildcats were able to finally stop the clock with a foul, there was only about a minute left in the game. Rolling Meadows closed out with five straight free throws, including a few from Jacqueline Kemph and Ann Marie Lynch, who finished with 9 and 8 points respectively.

“I won’t lie, I was pleasantly surprised that (running the clock down) worked so well for us,” said Rolling Meadows coach Todd Hatfield, who had an even earlier start to his day.

Or was it a late end to the day before? He was up watching film on Libertyville at 3 a.m. Thursday, strategizing on how to deal with the traps.

“All we did during our two-hour practice was quick ball reversals in those trapping situations. We were prepared and we executed the game plan and did what we were supposed to.

“The girls did not want to get up early and they were mad when we told them that we were practicing at 8 a.m., but they understood that this opportunity doesn’t come along too often. Libertyville is obviously a fantastic program. They’re the two-time defending champions here. Our girls knew that and they really wanted this.”

Libertyville (12-4) scored just 6 points in the fourth quarter and couldn’t build on momentum gained in the third quarter. The Wildcats were down 20-16 at halftime and trailed the entire first half. But they outscored Rolling Meadows 8-3 in the third quarter to take a 24-23 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play together as a team, especially at the end,” said Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson, who got a game-high 14 points out of senior guard Alex Haley but only single-digits out of everyone else. “What we played, that’s not Libertyville basketball.

“Teamwork was lacking, execution was lacking and we were playing like a bunch of individuals. It’s not to take anything away from Rolling Meadows. They’re a very good team. But this was not our best game. Not even close. We should be disappointed in that.”