Rolling Meadows tops Lakes
Coming off a 77-point performance in its season-opening win against Stevenson on Tuesday, the offense for the Rolling Meadows girls basketball team did not skip a beat in Wednesday’s opening-round of the Turkey Thriller.
But the Mustangs were talking more about getting the defense up to snuff.
Junior guard Jackie Kemph scored a team-high 27 points and classmate Alexis Glasgow added 19 in an 85-60 triumph over Lakes.
“The defense was not so good,” said Kemph, who scored all but 2 of her points in the middle quarters. “We want to play better defense — that’s the big thing. I don’t pay attention to how many points I have. But one thing I know for sure, we have to play better defense.”
Kemph also had 7 assists and 4 steals and 3 rebounds.
“Jackie can control a game in so many ways,” said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky. “This game, a lot of it was by her scoring.”
Junior Jenny Vliet added 9 points while other top rebounders for the winners were Allie Kemph (6 rebounds) and Morgan Keller (5). Ashley Montanez collected 4 steals. Allie Kemph also had 6 points and Katie Shewmon added 5 with a 3-pointer.
“We obviously did a lot of good things offensively,” Kirkorsky added. “But we didn’t bring the same energy level on defense as we had the night before.”
Meadows jumped ahead 8-2 but Lake rallied for a 10-8 lead. The Mustangs then scored 13 unanswered points to take control.
“More than anything, we have to play with consistent energy,” Kirkorsky said.
Prospect 60, Wheaton North 51: Prospect improved to 2-0 by winning its opening-round game of the York tournament.
The Knights led by just 1 point at the half but outscored the Falcons 18-7 in the third quarter.
Senior guard Michelle Molini and sophomore forward Catherine Sherwood led Prospect with 15 points apiece.
Molini had four 3-pointers, including one during the third-quarter spurt.
“They were all big, because Wheaton North stayed in a zone most of the game but they had to honor her shot,” said first-year Prospect coach Ashley Graham, “and that helped open things up for our post players.”
Mandy Traversa scored a game-high 21 points for Wheaton North.
Junior forward Trisha Benson finished with 12 for Prospect.
York 53, Conant 42: Alyssa Kovatchis scored a career-high 15 points to go along with 3 steals and 3 assists while Sami Harrell added 5 points and 14 rebounds to power York (1-0) in its season opener in tournament play hosted by the Dukes. Conant fell to 1-1.
Palatine 44, McHenry 37: Sophomore center Monica Masini scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for the Pirates who improved to 2-0 by winning their first game of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tourney.
“Monica played very well,” said Pirates assistant coach Bill LePage. “She rebounded and shot the ball well. She was the positive for us in this game.”
Senior guard Nia Pappas added 10 points and handed out 4 assists while senior forward Jamie Lloyd also scored 10 points, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. Junior guard Kirsten Allen also had a 3-pointer for the Pirates.
CL South 56, St. Viator 45: St. Viator junior guard Erin Fabbri scored a team-high 18 points with 2 3-pointers in the Lions’ first game of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tourney. Michelle Presslak scored 9 points and Samy Stanley added 6 for the Lions (0-1).