Kuzmanic powers Wheeling’s win

Wheeling junior Deanna Kuzmanic, who received all-state recognition following her sophomore season, scored a career-high 38 points as the Wildcats posted a 63-53 victory over the host team of the Niles North Thanksgiving tournament on Saturday night.

The two-time all-area guard had 13 field goals (four from 3-point range) and made 8-of-12 free throws.

Junior Hannah Dobrowski chipped in 7 points and junior Lani Greenberg 6 as Wheeling evened its record at 1-1 for the season.

Maine West 61, Harlan 43: Saint Xavier recruit Brittany Collins enjoyed the second-highest scoring game in school history with 36 points as the Warriors improved to 2-2 and 2-1 in the Hoffman Estates Thanksgiving tournament.

Donna Logisz holds the record with 48 points against Maine East in the 1978-79 season.

Collins also grabbed 12 rebounds with 2 blocked shots while senior guard Erin Ross (8 points) had a pair key 3-pointers in the middle quarters.

“Brittany had a nice game,” said Maine West coach Derril Kipp of the 6-foot forward who is currently behind only Megan Edwards (1,648) and Logisz (1,520) on Maine West’s all-time scoring list. “She’s had a double-double in every game. We handled the ball better and we passed it better than we have been.”

Julia Huinker and Monica Liwag each chipped in 5 points for West.

Fremd 56, Cary-Grove 38: The Vikings won their fourth straight in the seven-team Lake Zuirch Turkey Thriller at Lakes High School.

Junior guard Haley Gorecki scored a game-high 20 points with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to lead the undefeated Vikings, who topped Lakes on Friday night.

“We played two games in less than 24 hours and at times we seemed to lose our focus a bit,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “We were missing that finishing kick we seemed to have the night before.”

Senior Hannah LaBarge added 11 points with 4 rebounds for the Vikings (4-0), who led 16-7 after one quarter.

Sophomore Bryana Hopkins pulled down 9 rebounds with her 6 points and 2 assists.

Freshman Grace Tworek collected 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks while Brianna Lewis handed out 7 assists with 3 steals and 4 points.

“Haley (Gorecki) had a nice all-around game,” Yates said. “Brianna Lewis played a very unselfish game and Bryana Hopkins controlled the boards in the second half.”

Cary-Grove (2-2) was led by Katie Barker’s 7 points.

“Cary Grove always plays hard and Rod (Saffert, head coach) does a nice job with his kids,” Yates said. “We had a very good last 12 minutes of the first half to take control of the game.”

Leading 4-2 with four minutes left in the first quarter, Fremd went on a 30-14 run to close out the half.

“We had a very busy week (four games in six days) so we look forward to having some practices to work on things,” Yates added. “I am very pleased with what I have seen so far. We have many things to improve on.”

Rolling Meadows 91, Johnsburg 31: JackieKemph (25 points, 10 assists) and Alexis Glasgow (21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) led Meadows (3-0) to its third win in three days at the Lake Zurich Turkey Thriller.

Katie Shewmon (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Jenny Vliet (11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) were other top scorers for the Mustangs. Teammates Ashley Montanez and Hannah Mickey also grabbed 6 rebounds.

The Mustangs’ offense has scored at least 75 points in all three wins.

Elk Grove 51, Lakes 41: Senior Melissa Solorio scored a game-high 23 points with 17 rebounds and sophomore Abbey Sloan added 13 points to lead Elk Grove (1-3) to its first win in the Lake Zurich Turkey Thriller.

Amber Lindfors (8 rebounds, 5 blocked shots) chipped in 7 points while Taylor Brown (6 points) was 6-of-9 at the free throw line.

Hersey 73, Lake Park 30: Junior Annie Korff became the third different player to lead Hersey (3-0) in scoring this season as the junior scored 14 points, 12 in the first half.

Senior Renee Poulos had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds while also reaching double figures for the Huskies were senior Morgan Harris and freshman Claire Gritt with 12 apiece.

Freshman Kelly Weyhrich handed out 9 assists for the Huskies, who had four players score their first varsity points (sophomore Delaney Parker with a 3-pointer, and juniors Halle Lyon, Kristen Jackson and Emma Slosar).

Barrington 55, Maine South 50: Aoife Callanan (17 points), Megan Talbot (11), Brooke Gunderson (8) and Angie Kirchoff (8) led Barrington to its second straight win in the Bison Classic at Buffalo Grove High School.

Callanan had three 3-pointers in the second half, including 2 in the fourth quarter along with 2-of-2 free throws.

“Aoife had a nice game for us,” said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. “She made some big buckets at timely moment. I thought Maine South did a nice job defending Angie (Kirchoff) so we had to look for other kids to pick up the scoring slack. We had a balanced attack which ultimately we like.”

Barreiro sees room for her team (2-0) to improve defensively.

“We were a little sloppy,” she said. “We gave up some easy baskets. We just didn’t rebound when we needed to and I thought we fouled too often. “So I felt lucky to get out with a win. The kids are doing such a nice job working together and keeping their composure, so that was nice to see. Carrie Madden gave us some nice minutes defensively off the bench.”

Buffalo Grove 63, Westinghouse 34: Buffalo Grove (1-1) posted its first win in its own Bison Classic as sophomore Maddie Welter connected for 18 points and four 3-pointers.

Courtney Meyer (13 points) added two 3-pointers for the Bison, who also received 11 points from sophomore Sammy Stejskal and 7 from classmate Maddie Callahan.

Leyden 50, Northside Prep 48: Alondra Chavarria scored 20 points with 6 rebounds and 4 steals to help lead the Eagles (2-0) to their second win in the Fenton-Addison Trail tournament.

Autumn McGee added 14 points with 5 rebounds for the winners who received 8 rebounds from Liz McCluskey.

Rockford Boylan 55, Schaumburg 36: Mallory Gerber and Brittany Reinhart each scored 10 points to lead the Saxons (0-4) in the Schaumburg Thanksgiving tournament. Reinhart, Nina Nykaza and Tatiana Doroskin each had 4 rebounds for the host team. Lilly Chavarria handed out 3 assists.

Mother McAuley 73, Hoffman Estates 44: Andrea Wolinski (11 points), Monraia Wilson (11) and Mary Saitta (7) were top scorers for the Hawks (0-3) in their own tournament game.

York 56, Conant 47: Conant fell to 0-2 in the York Thanksgiving tournament.

St. Viator 65, Jacobs 45: Senior guard Erin Fabbri scored a season-high 23 points for the Lions who improved to 2-1 in the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament in Carpentersville.

Fabbri connected for three 3-pointers.

Other top scorers for Viator were Susie Moynihan (10 points), Kelsey Trimble (9), Maggie Leazer (8) and Maddie McAteer (7).