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Buffalo Grove's North heads for the border

Bailey North is headed north.

The Buffalo Grove senior, who is less than 75 points shy of 1,000 points for her career, will move on to play Division II basketball at Wisconsin-Parkside.

“I got a lot of green for Christmas,” said North, referring to the Rangers' green-colored apparel. “I even got a cheesehead.”

North has gotten plenty of guidance from her father Kip, who was a three-sport athlete at Arlington High School and is the Buffalo Grove boys athletic director.

“If there is one person I have to thank for getting me where I'm at, it's my father,” Bailey said. “My dad has been there 100 percent for me, always looking for what's best whether is was park district, AAU or high school basketball.”

A National Honor Society student, North has received nothing but As and Bs in high school. She plans to study in the applied health science field, concentrating on physical therapy and athletic training.

“I've had so many injuries and ended up in the training room so much, it just kind of rubbed off on me,” said North, who missed four games early this season because of a stress fracture.

North has come back strong, averaging double figures including a 20-point performance against St. Charles North at the Dundee Crown tourney. She is also one of the top rebounders in the area.

As a junior, North led the Bison in scoring and rebounding and shot 81.6 percent from the free throw line (80-of-98).

First-year coach Steve Kolodziej stresses North's knowledge of the game as a big plus, too.

“Bailey is a student of the game,” Kolodziej said.”She knows the game extremely well, She knows where everyone is supposed to be on the floor at all times. Her basketball IQ is very high.”

Four of the 16 players on Parkside's roster this season are from Illinois.

North liked the fact the school isn't too far.

“It's close, and small enough where you don't get lost,” she said. “But it is big enough where you don't feel like you are there by yourself. It will be easy for my parents (Kip and Amy) to come and see games.”

“It's absolutely a great fit for Bailey,” Kolodziej said. “It's a program that wins a lot of basketball games and Bailey will go in there and contribute.”

Nice tribute: Rolling Meadows celebrated an alumni and feeder program day when it hosted Buffalo Grove on Saturday.Milo the Mustang was also on hand, often holding up a letter D and a piece of fence to ignite the defense.But it was the Mustangs' offense that really thrilled the large matinee turnout.All those involved got to watch quite a show from the state's No. 3 ranked Class 4A team which posted a 92-37 victory, marking its second highest scoring game of the season.The Mustangs scored 95 earlier in the season on their home floor in a 95-72 victory over Wheaton North.While a handful of alumni were recent graduates who helped jump start the Mustangs program under former coach Todd Hatfield, girls from the 2002-03 team were also recognized.That team, coached by Pat O'Connell, is the only one in school history to win a regional. Standout Jen Brown, who was a high-scoring all-state guard on that squad, made the trip from her home in downstate Morton.Triple duty: Rolling Meadows girls basketball freshman coach Tony Wolanski is also the Mustangs head softball coach and the defensive coordinator for the Conant football team.Not too many Mid-Suburban League head coaches who also are assistants in two other sports come to mind.Scoring prowess: #376; Hoffman Estates senior Destinee Young, who will play for Old Dominion next season, has put together four straight games of 22 or more points with double figures in rebounds each time.#376; Palatine senior McKenzie Wiedemann delivered a career-high 25 points when the Pirates stopped visiting Barrington on Saturday. Wiedemann's cousin, Jessi Wiedemann, is averaging 14 minutes as a freshman for Valparaiso's women's basketball team this season. She wears the same No. 44 she wore for Fremd the last four seasons.#376; Maine West junior Brittany Collins has scored in double figures for 10 straight games, including a season-high 24 against Maine East. She has scored 19 or more in four of her last five games.#376; Fremd senior Ashley McConnell has poured in 20 or more in seven of her last eighth games, including a career-high 38 against Zion-Benton.#376; Rolling Meadows junior Jackie Kemph has collected 19 or more points in nine of her last 10 games, including a season-high 34 against Zion-Benton.Clutch performance: St. Viator tried to rally from an 8-point deficit against Nazareth on Friday night, coach Christina Jost saw her team get to within 1 point before Nazareth held on for a 43-41 victory at the Cahill Gymnasium.After Erin Fabbri's 19 points the next highest scorer for the Lions were sophomore Susie Moynihan (9 points) and senior Samy Stanley (6).And both had key points in the final 1:29.Stanley converted two clutch free throws to get the Lions to within 42-38 and then Moynihan came up with a 3-point play with 1:12 left to cut the deficit to 42-41.For your viewing: All 16 games of the 23rd Annual McDonald's Shootout, being held Friday Saturday and Monday, will be streamed #8216;live' on HighSchoolCube.com.High School Cube is Chicagoland's leader for streaming live high school events.#8220;I have been approached before about live streaming some of the McDonald's games but when we were approached by High School Cube I knew this was the right time and organization to do it,#8221; said Shootout organizer Jim O'Boye. #8220;In just a couple of years they have become the talk of area high schools for steaming quality and professionalism. Their entire concept is very student-friendly and kids are watching their games over and over sitting with their friends in front of a computer.#8221;The McDonald's Shootout tips off on Friday at 6 p.m. as Guerin Prep takes on St. Ignatius. The 16th and final game on Monday at 7:30 p.m. features Illinois defending Class 3A champ Montini and defending 4A champ Whitney Young.Visit www.highschoolcube.com/tournaments/annual-mcdonald-s-shootout-illinois to see the action.

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