Meadows matches its reputation in win over Lakes

Lakes girls basketball coach Pete Schneider is very familiar with the Rolling Meadows girls basketball team.

And he saw a familiar performance from the Mustangs on Wednesday night, when the nationally-ranked team secured a tie for the championship of the Lake Zurich Turkey Thriller Tournament.

Ranked No. 2 in Illinois’ Class 4A, Meadows put together another electrifying performance in a 72-16 victory over the Eagles.

As founder of the Northern Illinois Feeder Girls Basketball Association, Schneider goes way back with the Mustangs’ talented senior class.

Obviously, he was quite impressed on Wednesday by coach Ryan Kirkorsky’s squad which returned all but one player (Daily Herald Athlete of the Year Morgan Keller, who is now at Illinois State) from last year’s Class 4A state runner-up.

“They’re outstanding,” Schneider said. “I’ve been watching them since they were in sixth grade. What’s really neat is they’re all home grown. They try to keep getting better and they work at it.

“And they are all good kids. They’re not arrogant.

“You hate losing, but they are the real deal. To tell you the truth, I hope they go all the way. I’m glad we’re Class 3A, and not 4A.”

The Mustangs were A-No. 1 on Wednesday as Kirkorsky got quality minutes from all his players.

Jackie Kemph (19 points, 5 assists), Jenny Vliet (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Alexis Glasgow (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals 1 blocked shot) led the Mustangs, who shared the tournament titles with Fremd.

The two teams, which meet next Tuesday in Palatine, were both 5-0 in the tourney.

“It’s pretty crazy that all of us have been officially playing together since sixth grade feeder,” Glasgow said. “Our chemistry has been growing since then. We won back-to-back (NIFGBA) titles in seventh and eighth grade. That’s pretty cool that he (Schneider) remembers us.”

Tuesday’s game at Fremd should be another one to remember.

“We’re every excited about that game,” Kemph said. “We’ve got to keep playing hard, playing our game and playing good defense.”

“It will be definitely be chance for us to see where we are at and what we can do,” said Vliet, who was 7-of-8 from the field and was named o the all-tourney team along with Kemph and Glasgow. “We are excited for it and it should be good game.”

It should draw a good crowd despite being on a week night when the rest of the Mid-Suburban League is also playing.

The Mustangs know a few fans they can count on.

“It was a great to have our four ‘super fans’ here (at Lake Zurich on Thursday night),” said Mustangs guard Allie Kemph. “They give us great support. They come to all our games.”

Allie Kemph and all the reserves gave great support to the starters on Wednesday.

“Everyone played well,” Jackie Kemph said. “We are pretty happy with things so far. Everyone is connecting and it’s nice to get everyone in the game.”

Hannah Mickey equaled her season-high of 8 points while Sami Kay added 6 points and 4 steals.

Ashley Montanez grabbed 5 rebounds with her 4 points.

“We had great contributions from everyone on the roster,” Kirkorsky added “I thought our three captains (Glasgow, Vliet and Kemph) did everything on and off court that they could do.

“Fremd is playing great basketball. It will be a challenge but we look forward to it.”

The Eagles (0-5) were led by sophomore Ellie Haviland, who scored 8 points.

“She’s been playing well,” Schneider said. “The kids continue to work hard so we’ll get there. We are young and learning.”