Vernon Hills celebrates tourney win at Mundelein
Three days before the most popular day of the year to wake up early and play all morning, the Vernon Hills and Mundelein girls basketball teams unwrapped a holiday tournament game at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Still morning after Vernon Hills' 50-39 victory over the hosts, Nolan Brettner clung to the chest and shoulder of his daddy, winning coach Paul Brettner, before the 3½-year-old relinquished his spot to his 19-month-old sister Reagan.
Merry day.
Real merry day three days away.
How fitting that Vernon Hills' Meri — Meri Bennett-Swanson — had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds (plus 3 blocks and 3 steals) and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
“Great tournament for us,” Nolan and Reagan's daddy said. “I think we played well and represented ourselves well. This is the kind of competition we need heading into the second part of our season and into the state playoffs.”
Vernon Hills' Sydney Smith got an all-tourney medal, too. The 5-foot-10 sophomore had a game-high 15 points and 6 rebounds, as Vernon Hills (13-2, 3-1) wrapped up Mundelein's Holiday Classic by winning the fifth-place game.
Vernon Hills and Mundelein (5-9, 2-2) played Thursday's first game because Grant was taking finals.
“I think 9 a.m. games are hard,” Smith said. “You have to have the mentality to play well and go strong. We pumped each other up on the bus rather than everyone sitting and not talking, We took initiative and got ourselves ready for the game.”
The Cougars' enthusiasm showed, particularly late in the opening quarter. That's when they got a right-wing jumper from Megan Riehm, 2 free throws from Smith and a righty hook shot from the lefty Bennett-Swanson to take a 14-9 lead into the second.
“I think both teams came out pretty hard,” Brettner said. “Mundelein always comes out hard.”
Three-pointers by Lauren Webb (12 points, 5 boards) and Smith opened the second quarter. Webb's three-point play and Smith's layup extended the lead to 25-9, before Becca Woit drained a 3 for Mundelein.
Brettner's bench helped the Cougars keep their lead. Alina Lehocky and Brie Bahlmann each hustled for 6 rebounds, while Riehm scored 6 points and Mady Roberts contributed a steal. Bahlmann also had 4 points and 2 steals.
“We needed them today,” Brettner said. “We needed them to come out real strong in the second half. That was a critical stretch where they pretty much held Mundelein at bay.”
Mundelein freshman forward Natalie Busscher had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Woit scored 10 points, while twins Amanda Davis and Taylor Davis each had 6 points and 6 rebounds.
Mundelein played hard till the end, despite facing a double-digit deficit for most of the fourth quarter. The Mustangs were within 46-39, but Smith's 2 foul shots with 1:12 left gave Vernon Hills breathing room.
Vernon Hills' only tournament loss was by 3 points to Libertyville.
“I think we easily could have given up (after the Libertyville game),” Smith said. “But we were ready to play.”