Grayslake North breathes a sigh of relief
Only a short time on the bench so she could catch her breath, after she had Grayslake North defenders huffing and puffing, could stop Vernon Hills’ Sydney Smith from scoring the basketball.
Enter Knights guard Kendall Detweiler, who provided suffocating defense.
And in the end, Grayslake North could breathe a happy sigh of relief after surviving a 30-point effort from Smith and pulling away from Vernon Hills for a 61-53 win in a semifinal of the Mundelein Mustang Holiday Classic on Friday night.
The win earned Grayslake North (8-5, 3-0 tournament) a berth in today’s 8 p.m. championship game against Mundelein (8-5, 3-0). Maggie Fish scored 15 of her team-high 20 points after halftime for the Knights, while Detweiler (19) and Brittney Thibeaux (14) also scored in double figures for the winners.
Vernon Hills (11-4, 2-1) will play Conant at 6:30 p.m. today.
Smith hit 11 of 15 shots, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, but the 5-foot-10 forward was held scoreless in the fourth quarter by the 5-5 Detweiler, who got a little help from her taller teammates.
“Kendall’s a great defensive player,” said Smith, who also had 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Her point total was 5 off the school-record total she posted earlier this month. “They have a very well-rounded defensive team — and offensive team.”
Grayslake North coach Nate Flannery put Detweiler on Smith to start the fourth quarter, after the Knights closed the third with a 10-0 run to take a 44-43 lead.
“I wanted to do it earlier, but Kendall is a huge part of our offense, and I didn’t want to drain her,” Flannery said. “She’s not coming off the floor for us. She’s playing the whole time. My concern obviously was Sydney being able to post her up, but our help defense was good. We got over there and took that away so they couldn’t get the ball in there.”
A baseline jumper by Monica Bahlmann, who scored 11 of her season-high 13 points in the second half, had Vernon Hills up 43-34 with 2:11 left in the third. Smith, whose 3 with 3:48 to go gave her 30 points, then went to the bench. While Grayslake North was making its run and erasing its deficit, there wasn’t a stoppage in play to allow Smith to get back on the floor.
“I just needed a quick breather,” said Smith, who scored 24 points in the first half and swished a shot from just inside half-court to beat the first-quarter buzzer. “Running back and forth and back and forth, I got a little tired.”
While Smith was wearing down Grayslake North, the Knights’ box-and-one defense was also having a tiring effect on the Cougars.
“That box and one they were playing really did a nice job of exhausting our kids,” Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. “It was a fast pace so I had to take a few kids out at the same time, and (Grayslake North) capitalized. I got them back in as soon as I could, but the damage was done.”
Fish took over with Grayslake North trailing the state’s Class 3A runner-up the last two seasons. She scored on three drives in the final two minutes of the third, then hit 7 of 7 free throws, including a three-point play, in the fourth. Fish, who came in averaging 6.4 points per game, had scored a career-high 21 points in a double-overtime loss at Prairie Ridge earlier this month.
“Convincing her that she can do that all the time (is the challenge),” Flannery said. “Last year she was a role player (as a sophomore on varsity). We’re getting to the point where she knows she can be one of the top 3-4 scorers on this team.”
“She got in all the gaps and did what she needed to do,” Smith said of Fish. “We didn’t do what we needed to do.”
Haley Lieberman’s drive pulled Vernon Hills within 52-50 with 2:21 left in the fourth, but Detweiler’s third 3 hiked the lead to five and started a 9-3 run by the Knights to finish the game.
“They’re a great team and so are we, and that was a fun game to play in,” Smith said. “It stinks we lost, but I think we’re going to learn a lot from this game. I think our team played well, but not well enough.”
Kasey Firnbach added 8 points for Vernon Hills, which played without Lauren Webb (sprained foot) and Katie Brettmann (family commitment).
“It’s good to go against a team like Grayslake North,” Brettner said. “They’re well-coached, they’re good, they play hard, and they play that switching defense. It’s good to see who’s going to react to the coaching we’re giving them, who’s going to rise to the occasion and who’s not. You’re learning more about your team at this time of the year.”