Prairie Ridge ousts Cary-Grove
It wasn't as if Prairie Ridge's game plan was any secret.
Don't leave Katie Barker alone.
And the Wolves didn't - again.
Prairie Ridge jumped out to a 10-0 lead, never gave it up, and played smothering defense on Barker all night in a 46-42 win over Cary-Grove Friday in the championship game of the Class 4A Cary-Grove girls basketball regional at Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium in Cary.
"We were going to play a zone defense but not leave (Barker)," said PR coach Rob Baker. "We didn't care who it was, just don't leave her. If she's in your zone, don't leave her. We've played them three times and luckily that's worked for us."
The Wolves (21-9), who won just the third regional title in program history, will take on Rockford Boylan (25-2) in the 8 p.m. semifinal at Crystal Lake South on Tuesday, with Huntley and South Elgin playing the first semi. The winners return next Thursday for the sectional title and a spot in the March 3 Judson University supersectional.
Cary-Grove, which had won four straight regional crowns and was seeking the 19th in program history, finished the season 18-12.
The Wolves were uncanny offensively and relentless defensively from the outset. Senior Sarah LeBeau hit 2 3-pointers in the first quarter to help stake the Wolves to a 17-6 lead after the first eight minutes.
Then 6-foot-2 senior Maddie Drain took over, taking lob pass after lob pass and scoring 9 of her game-high 19 points in the second quarter as the Wolves took a 28-22 lead into the break. She also finished with 12 rebounds.
"Coming out strong sets the tone for the whole game," said LeBeau, who finished with 8 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. "We got the ball into Maddie and she just kept laying it in."
The Trojans fought back and got within 4 at 32-28 when Barker hit her first basket of the game, a 3-pointer, with 3:09 left in the third quarter. But the C-G junior, who averaged over 20 points per game, was just 3 of 13 shooting for the night and her team finished just 17-for-52. Barker finished with 9 points, hitting two more 3s in the final 18 seconds of the game.
"We stuck to the game plan," said Baker. "LeBeau had a great game, Ally (Clark) and Kelly (Klendworth) had the game of their lives and we got the ball into Maddie. We played smart, composed and got it done. I couldn't be prouder of them."
Cary-Grove was still within 4, 34-30, after a basket from sophomore call-up Breanne Prank with 2:37 left in the third but the Wolves went on a 6-0 run to close out the period and never led by less than 7 points in the fourth quarter.
"The slow start hurt but we got it back," said Trojans' coach Rod Saffert. "(PR) made some good runs and they did a good job on Katie. We got a lot of good shots but we were always one-and-done. It just wasn't our night.
"We'll be back, I'm excited for next year but we've got four seniors we're sorry to see go."
One of those, Sarah Kendeigh, led the Trojans with 11 points. Junior Candace Cunningham added 7.
Clark, a sophomore, had 13 points for PR, which beat Cary-Grove three times this season after losing 15 straight to the Trojans.
"This means everything," said LeBeau. "It's hard to beat a team three times."