Deep thoughts for victorious Vernon Hills

Depth and defense have been keys for Vernon Hills' girls basketball team.

Kasey Firnbach has been a starter for the Cougars, but the senior forward came off the bench on Tuesday night. She responded by scoring a team-high 13 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 2 steals, as Vernon Hills captured the championship of its own Cougar Classic with a 51-26 win over Lake Forest.

"We have a large amount of talented players," Firnbach said. "We switch things off sometimes. We all know that we have a deep bench. We work hard against each other in practice, and you can see the results in games."

It was the fourth straight year and fifth time in six years that the Cougars won the tournament title. Vernon Hills (5-0) had some trouble with Lake Forest (3-2) in the opening quarter.

"This was our most challenging (game) because (Lake Forest) was with us early, but by halftime we were doing pretty well," Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. "As I've told the team, we've got several starters, not just five. The IHSA allows us to start only five, so I've been rotating through. I imagine at some point we will settle on a lineup. I'm just trying to see combinations here early like all coaches. We have 9, 10, 11 kids that can start every game, and that's a good problem to have. Right now, I just want to give other kids a chance and see what combinations work."

Lake Forest started the game as the aggressor and opened a 6-2 lead. Vernon Hills missed several shots and turned over the ball several times.

"Lake Forest came out with the best defense that we've seen so far," Brettner said. "It took us a little while to adjust to it. Most defenses play a sagging man. They were out to get us. Which was good for us to face. They played some pretty good 'D.' It was a good test for us to go against a good defense like that."

The Cougars clawed back on Firnbach's two free throws that capped a 7-2 run and gave Vernon Hills a 9-8 advantage after the first quarter.

But Vernon Hills let its own defense take over in the second quarter, as the Cougars outscored the Scouts 17-5 for a 26-13 lead by halftime. The Scouts were limited to 2-of-16 from the field in the quarter.

"That was the most defensive pressure we've seen so far," Lake Forest coach Kyle Wilhelm said. "They just smothered us and took us out of everything that we did. We just started settling for shots."

Vernon Hills increased the lead to 40-17 by the end of the third quarter and never looked back. Monica Bahlmann added 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals for the Cougars.

Lake Forest was led by Grace Torkelson's 6 points and 6 rebounds.