Centennial wins for Wheeling, Rolling Meadows
Playing on the big stage at the Robert Morris University campus in Arlington Heights, Wheeling got some big free throws by senior Hailey Dammeier and was able to seal a 55-52 win over Buffalo Grove on Saturday afternoon.
The game was part of District 214's Centennial Classic at the Forest View Education Center in Arlington Heights, where all three Mid-Suburban East girls and boys games were played in succession.
Dammeier's 2 free throws with 1:16 left gave the Wildcats a 55-50 lead.
Junior guard Maddie Welter hit a pair of free throws for BG (18-10, 4-6) with 1:06 left to make it 55-52, and that stood up as the final score.
Senior Deanna Kuzmanic led the Wildcats (19-7, 5-5) with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists while classmates Lani Greenberg (11 points, 4 blocked shots) and Hannah Dobrowski (10 points, 4 rebounds) also reached double figures.
Dammeier finished with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists as the Wildcats closed to within 1 victory of giving coach Matt Weber 20 wins for his first season.
Welter led BG with 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Maddy Callahan added 9 for the Bison. Top rebounders for BG were Welter (7) and Sammy Stejskal (5).
In the girls finale, Rolling Meadows posted a 52-42 triumph over Elk Grove (7-18, 0-10).
"Fantastic atmosphere," said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "Great crowds all day. It was a nice way to end the Mid-Suburban East season."
The Mustangs ended with a 3-7 record and now stand at 17-9 overall.
Sophomore Kyra Spiwak negotiated the larger college floor quite well, scoring a game-high 19 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Katherine Nolan and Hannah Mickey each chipped in 9 points for the Mustangs while grabbing 8 and 6 rebounds respectively.
Meadows led 36-23 at the break but outscored Grens the Mustangs 19-16 in the second half.
"It's never easy to win the MSL East," Kirkorsky said. "I'm glad our kids found a way to win."
Elk Grove senior center Amber Lindfors found the basket seven times from 9 shots the field and led her team with 15 points and 9 rebounds.
Sara Engler added 9 points and 2 assists while Abbey Sloan chipped in 7 points with 3 rebounds.
St. Viator 56, Nazareth 42: St. Viator rallied from a 19-9 deficit to earn the win and improve to 3-6 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference and 9-16 overall.
Senior Kayne Stanley led the visiting Lions with 16 points, 4 steals and 5 assists.
The Roadrunners hit three 3-pointers in the first three minutes.
"They came out on fire," said Lions coach Paul Missavage. "It (10-point deficit) woke us up and after a time out and a little motivation, we turned things."
The Lions went on a 12-0 run to close the period and lead 22-19.
Freshman Myia Clark scored 9 of her 14 during the run.
The Lions outscored Nazareth 14-4 in the second quarter, Grace McNamara, Maddie McAteer, Stanley and Clark all had field goals.
"From then on, we let the bench enjoy minutes and they responded with a roar," Missavage said. "It was a great road win for us." The three conference wins are two more than last season.
"And we are on the right track for the future with sophomore teams at 14-9 and freshman squad at 19-2," Missavage said.
McNamara, a freshman, had 5 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 2 assists and hit her only 3 point attempt.
"She (McNamara) also played great defense and did not have a turnover," Missavage said. Clark also had 4 steals and 4 assists while seniors Jessica Hohlweg and McAteer (7 rebounds) added 8 and 7 points, respectively.
Lyons 55, Maine West 30: Freshman Allison Pearson (8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) and Kayla Pociejewski (6 points) were top scorers for visiting Maine West (6-18) while freshman Jessica Riedl pulled down 9 rebounds in the nonconference game.
South Elgin 50, Barrington 36: Alex Van Ryne (8 points), Lauren Pector (7) and Megan Talbot (7) led the Fillies (10-15) in the nonconference game at South Elgin (17-9).
Talbot connected for a pair of 3-pointers while Abigail Elo and Pector each had one.
Talbot led the Fillies with 9 rebounds.
"I thought Tamara Zivak, Lauren Pector and Alex Van Ryne gave us good minutes off the bench," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "We've been playing well but that was not the case tonight.
"I just thought we were very ineffective in the first half. We picked it up offensively and played a nice fourth quarter. But it's that same thing where you have to play well for four quarters. especially against a good team."