Antioch passes Buffalo Grove's test
Every game is a test at this point, especially when you're enjoying the kind of success the Antioch girls basketball team is having this season.
After building a seemingly comfortable lead, the lesson on this Saturday afternoon revolved around maintaining poise while a fast-charging team is breathing down your neck. The Sequoits dug deep and conjured up every bit of grit that ultimately help them hold off a highly regarded Buffalo Grove squad 63-58 in the second round of the Martin Luther King tournament hosted by Lake Forest.
"That's two games in a row that we've kept our composure," said Antioch head coach Tim Borries, whose team beat Deerfield 70-41 earlier in the day and now stands 2-0 in the five-team round-robin event. The two victories on Saturday improved Antioch's record to 19-2 overall, which happens to feature a 16-game unbeaten streak.
"When they made a run at us, things could have compounded and gone the wrong way. But we stayed patient and made sure we had good shots and quality possessions down the stretch."
Antioch looked to have its way in the first half. A good mixture of outside shooting and inside presence helped the Sequoits forge ahead 34-20 at halftime. Sophomore guard Amy Reiser popped in 7 of her 11 points and also played a huge part defensively with four first-half steals.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard and sister Ashley Reiser chipped in a couple of treys and finished with 9 of her game-high 21 points in the first 16 minutes. The Sequoits' biggest lead was 15 on two occasions, the last coming early in the third after Ashley Reiser's trey made it 39-24 with 5:39 left.
But the momentum shifted a bit midway through the third when Amy Reiser picked up her third foul and low and behold here came the Bison. Amanda Kowalski's 3 capped a 10-2 run to close the frame and draw Buffalo Grove to within 45-42.
The Bison actually trimmed the lead to just a couple of points twice early in the fourth but that's as close as they would manage. Senior guard Julie Jambrone's hot shooting was big during the surge. Jambrone wound up with 10 of her 18 points in the fourth, while junior forward Sammy Stejskal complemented her with 14. Junior forward Maddie Welter also got hot in the second half, scoring all of her 11 points, including three 3s in the third.
But free-throw shooting was huge for Antioch, who dropped 15-of-17 for the game and a crucial 11-for-13 in that final quarter to help keep the Bison at bay.
And it's also nice when you have senior center Carly McCameron, who was rock solid in the paint the entire game in pumping in a career-high 19 points to accompany 12 boards.
"We were able to close in on their shooters and use our size advantage," said McCameron, who also collected three steals to go along with 2 blocks and 3 assists. "I was getting good position inside because we were running a lot of screen and rolls and post-ups. We just need to realize when we have good lead how to protect it."
The Sequoits will finish up the 5-team round-robin tournament Monday when they face Lakes at 10:30 a.m.; Antioch concludes with a 3 p.m. contest with the host Scouts.
Buffalo Grove, which slipped to 1-1 in the tournament, will play Deerfield at 9 a.m. Monday and finish with Lake Forest at noon.
"We started believing (in the third quarter) and we got quality minutes from everyone, especially players 6-10. I was very encouraged with the way we played in the second half," said Buffalo Grove coach Steve Kolodziej, whose team fell to 14-7. "We just got down by too much in the first half, and when you do that you're asking for trouble against a good team like Antioch."