Fremd's Invitational quite a showcase for MSL talent

It has been a historic season for Mid-Suburban League girls basketball.

First, Fremd became the first team to fly to an event when the Vikings played four games in Phoenix, Ariz., in late December.

Now, this weekend for the first time, MSL girls teams played on a Sunday.

And they represented themselves quite well.

With approval from the IHSA, Fremd coach Dave Yates put together the Fremd Chicagoland Invitational Showcase 2015 featuring teams top teams from Indiana and Illinois in order for college scouts to have an opportunity to see some top talent in two days.

And nearly 45 different schools were represented with scouts to watch the action that featured six MSL teams on Sunday.

"I thought the MSL had a good showing," Yates said. "Conant and Hersey gave state-ranked Marian Catholic and Joliet Catholic all they wanted. You're talking about some of the best teams in the state. I think you can say there is some real good basketball played in our conference.

"Our hope was to get a lot of talent in the gym and get a lot of college coaches watching. I think this is better than just playing nonconference games at another time.

"When you're playing top teams, it's more beneficial for the kids and for the college coaches and fans to watch."

Here is what MSL fans got to watch on Sunday:

Marian Catholic 51, Conant 44: Conant (12-3) gave state-ranked Marian Catholic (16-2) a battle to the end before the Spartans finally wrapped it up with an 8-0 run in the final 1:35.

Jorie Wachal's 3-pointer at the final buzzer wrapped up the scoring.

It was her third 3-pointer of the contest as the sophomore finished with 13 points, second only to team leader Haley Anderson (15 points).

"Haley had a great first half," said Cougars coach Deirdre Naughton. "We knew we were going to need a team effort. They (Marian) really tried to take away Nireet (Dhillon, Cougars' point guard). They even double teamed her at times.

"Everyone stepped up and had their good moments for us. But we all have to do it for the whole game against aggressive teams like Marian Catholic."

The 2013 Class 4A Spartans were led by all-stater Teniya Page, who scored a game-high 23 points.

Lexi Zades chipped in 6 points for the Cougars with a pair of 3-pointers.

"We played really well in the first half (holding Marian to 18 points)," said Cougars senior Katie Lomas, whose driving layup got Conant to within 43-41 with 2:24 left before Marian went on its game-winning 8-0 run. "But we've just got to work on playing all four quarters. Their 1-3-1 zone kind of got to us and that shouldn't happen. We'll work on that. And we've got to work on finishing at the other end."

Conant's only losses are to Fremd, Prospect and Marian Catholic, all ranked in the top eight of the Class 4A state poll.

"We were well aware of how good Conant is," said Spartans coach Dan Murray. "They are well coached and extremely fundamentally sound. You saw how hard it was to get the ball inside on them."

Joliet Catholic 60, Hersey 56: Coming off a key win over Buffalo Grove the night before, Hersey almost pulled of another big one over coach Kenny Battle's Angels (12-5), who are ranked No. 6 in the Class 3A state poll.

Senior Juliette Vainisi (14 points) spun around a defender for a layup and 52-51 Hersey lead with 2:12 left in the game.

But Kennedy Weigt's 3-pointer gave Joliet gave Joliet the lead for good.

Hersey (13-5) got to within 56-54 on senior Annie Korff's left-handed bank shot with 45 seconds left but that's as close as Hersey got.

Korff led the Huskies with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while Maggie Berigan had 6 points and 5 rebounds. Kelly Weyhrich handed out 6 assists and Claire Gritt chipped in 9 points.

"We just came out knowing we had nothing to lose," Vainisi said. "Once the game was tied at half (29-29), we just gave it all we had in the second half."

"The girls did great," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "We had a pretty hard week of practice and we won our priority game on Saturday (over BG). Then we came back and played well in this game."

Fendley was happy to take part in the event.

"It's a great event Dave (Yates) put together," she said. "I was happy to be matched up with a team like Joliet Catholic which was coming off a big win over Benet (No. 2 in Class 4A).

"I think we've shown we're in the mix. We have a win against Fremd, barely lost to to New Trier and now played another top team well. Hopefully we will continue to learn from getting to face the best competition around."

Buffalo Grove 50, Lake Zurich 43: The Bison (13-5) bounced back from Saturday's loss at Hersey as junior Sammy Stejskal followed up a 22-point performance with a team-high 17 against the Bears.

The Bison had five 3-pointers in the game, including two from Amanda Kowalski (6 points).

Maddie Welter tossed in 13 points for BG while Bri Kolbus and Maddy Callahan each had 7.

"It was a nice bounce-back win and we did a nice job defensively getting back in transition," said BG coach Steve Kolodziej. "Sammy had a big game. She played hard and finished well. She also knocked down the outside shot.

"Bri Kolbus also stepped up. She did a nice job getting to the basket. All in all, it was a good team win. All 11 of our girls played."

Vernon Hills 44, Barrington 31: The Fillies (7-11) were led by junior Megan Talbot, who converted three 3-pointers and 13 points. Frontline partner Bailee McDonald added 12.

"Megan and Bailee each had good offensive games," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, whose team committed 17 turnovers. "I thought the kids played hard. We just gave up too many offensive rebounds.

"But I keep telling the kids that we'll be OK. They've just got to keep working at it. I believe in this group."

Prospect 56, Mundelein 34: Prospect (16-1) continued its near perfect season as senior Taylor Will led the offense with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Catherine Sherwood chipped in 10 points followed by Haley Will (7) and Nikki Matters (6).

In all, 10 Knights made it into the scoring column.

"It was a great effort by the girls to play on back-to-back days," said coach Ashley Graham, whose club is ranked No. 8 in the Class 4A state poll. "All told, we executed well defensively and offensively, where we got the looks we wanted."

It was the Knights' fourth game of the week.

"It was a big week," Graham added. "We didn't hang our heads after the loss to Fremd (on Tuesday). We came back after that and did some nice things (in wins over Highland Park, Rolling Meadows and Mundelein)."

Fremd 67, Crete-Monee 45: Senior Haley Gorecki led the way with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals as the Vikings (16-3) rebounded from a tough loss to Indiana national power Heritage Christian the day before.

"I glad we battled back after the tough loss on Saturday," Gorecki said. "I think it was a good jump for us from Saturday's game to this one. Playing three days in a row (the Vikings defeated Schaumburg on Friday) was like playing AAU."

The No. 3 state-ranked Vikes (Class 4A) also notched a big win over previously unbeaten Prospect on Tuesday.

"I'm pleased with the girls who played four games in six days and starting finals this week," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "When we don't play a good game like Saturday, I always feel like our next game will be a strong one."

The Vikes trailed 15-14 after one quarter but outscored Crete-Monee (9-9) by 18-5 in the second quarter. "Once we got out of the zone, we did fine," Yates said.

Junior Bryana Hopkins added 13 points with 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists for Fremd while classmate Brianna Lewis chipped in 10 points.

Other top rebounders were Grace Tworek (7), Julia Wacker (3), Missy Adrian (3) and Erin Lenahan (2) while Lenahan also handed out a pair of assists.