Girls basketball/Fox Valley roundup
Westminster Christian 65, Harvest Christian 33: Westminster Christian’s depth and experience was too much for Harvest Christian Saturday in a Northeastern Athletics Conference girls basketball game between the west Elgin neighbors played at Harvest Christian’s Mitchell Swaback Athletic Center.
Claire Speweik had a huge game for the Warriors with 16 points, 21 rebounds and 4 steals and Maddie Versluys added 19 points and 11 rebounds as Westminster (7-1, 3-0) broke open a close game early to come away with a 65-33 win.
Ten of the 11 Warriors who played in the game scored as Westminster turned an 11-8 lead after one quarter into a 30-19 advantage by halftime before outscoring the Lions (2-2, 1-1) 35-14 in the second half.
“I’m spoiled because I have depth,” said Westminster coach Ken Flickinger. “We can go pretty far down the bench. The players that aren’t starting are getting ready mentally to come into the game and play really well. The one area I’m really pleased with has been our bench play. It has dramatically improved. They’re playing a big role for us.”
McKaila Hays added 9 points and 4 assists to the win, while Liz Meschewski had 8 points and 4 steals.
But it was Speweik who led the way on this day for the Warriors.
“Claire had a big game today,” Flickinger said. “I think she had a double-double in the first half. She’s played really well. McKaila Hays is having a really good year for us.”
Kylee Knox had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals to lead Harvest. Alex Rayappa added 11 points, Rachel Oostdyk had 8 rebounds and Morgan Lockwood 6 rebounds.
“We lost to a good team here today,” said Lions’ coach Kelly Friestad. “But I thought today, even though we got beat pretty bad, we came out strong and we were right with them there in that first quarter. I think that was huge for us to see that we can play with a good team. It’ll be fun to see where we’re at in another month.”
CL South 59, CL Central 41: Gaby De Jesus scored a career-high 13 points to go along with 6 assists and 3 steals to lead the Gators to an 18-point win on Night of Hoops in Crystal Lake.
“I got some good shots and was able to make them,” said DeJesus. “I want to do anything to help the team win.”
De Jesus made all 4 shots she took in the third quarter for 8 points as the Gators (5-4) outscored Central 18-7. The Gators extended a 29-24 lead at halftime to 47-31 after three quarters.
“She hit some tear -droppers in the lane and took good shots,” said South coach Kyle McCaughn of DeJesus. “She always does a good job of running the offense at the point. Tonight she added some offense.”
Rachel Rasmussen added 15 points for the Gators, 10 in the first quarter. Sara Mickow scored 11 and Kianna Clark tallied 7 off the bench.
Kelsey Schmitt paced the Tigers with 14 points.
‘South is a handful to play for 32 minutes,” said Central coach Paul Lichtenheld. “They are well-coached. Their coaching staff does a phenomenal job of using their strengths to their advantage while ignoring their weaknesses.”
Bartlett 66, West Chicago 40: Bartlett (4-4, 1-0) was victorious in its first Upstate Eight Valley game of the season. Ally Giampapa led the Hawks with 24 points and 5 steals. Liz Arco added 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks. Kaitlin Brohan had 6 points and 6 assists, while Lauren Janczak added 9 points and 4 assists to the Bartlett attack.
Wheeling 51, Jacobs 37: The Golden Eagles (2-6) took a nonconference loss Saturday. Glenita Williams finished with 12 points and Carly Sidor added 9 points.
Batavia 64, Elgin 36: The Maroons (3-3, 0-1) were led by Maggie Powers with 19 points in this UEC River loss.