Kolbus, Buffalo Grove head in right direction
Senior Bri Kolbus and her Buffalo Grove girls basketball teammates would love to play for the championship of their own tournament next Saturday.
"We have a lot of players with experience now," said the 5-foot-7 guard, one of eight returning players. "That's been one of our goals."
The Bison took another step toward it on Saturday with a 61-31 victory over Grayslake Central.
Kolbus scored 11 points with 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steals to help BG go into Tuesday's final round of pool play with a 2-0 record when it faces Mother McAuley (2-0).
"That will be a good matchup," Kolbus said. "We need to work together, trust our fundamentals and trust each other."
That what the Bison did Saturday against a young Rams team which received 12 points and 5 rebounds from junior guard Quin Garbett, who is a first-year starter.
"I thought we had some defense breakdowns early," said Rams coach Steve Ikenn whose team trailed 14-4 after one quarter. "I just don't think we executed all the time. We have a young team and some kids are in new roles. We had some key turnovers.
"But give Buffalo Grove credit. They played a good game. They pressured on defense and capitalized on our mistakes we made. They're a solid team."
Junior Sammy Stejskal helped set the tine offensively for BG as she scored 10 of its first 22 points.
The Bison led 22-10 midway through the second quarter.
Stejskal finished with a team-high 12 points along with 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Bison were relentless with the advantage, never letting the Rams closer than rest of the way.
"That's is certainly something we talk about - how to play with the lead and not get careless with the basketball," said Bison coach Steve Kolodziej. "It's important for us to keep doing the things we are doing to get that lead and to limit our turnovers."
Junior forward Natalie Dimitrova pulled down 8 rebounds with 7 points.
"Natalie rebounded extremely well," Kolodziej added. "And I thought we got real good production from Bri. (Kolbus) She shot the ball well from outside."
Other statistical leaders for BG were senior Julie Jambrone (4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 points), junior Maddie Welter (9 points, 5 steals), senior Maddy Callahan (6 points, 7 rebounds) and sophomore Georgette Topalis (9 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds).
"Defensively we had three girls with three or more steals so that was good," Kolodziej added.
Senior guard Lauren Spalding chipped in 5 points and 4 assists for Grayslake Central (0-2).
Senior Connor Eschrich also added 5 points.
"We'll get there," Ikenn said. "We've just got to keep working. This will help us down the road."