Regional wins for Buffalo Grove, St. Viator
With her team nursing a 3-point lead in the third quarter, junior Amanda Kowalski hit a big 3-pointer for Buffalo Grove, and it helped propel the No. 5-seeded Bison to a 53-49 victory over No. 12 Lake Zurich in the semifinals of the Class 4A Carmel girls basketball regional in Mundelein on Wednesday.
The Bison (20-10) will face No. 4 Stevenson (26-4) at 7 p.m. Friday for the title.
It marked the first 20-win season in BG coach Steve Kolodziej's three seasons, and the second time the Bison will play for a regional crown during his tenure.
Maddie Welter (17 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds), Sammy Stejskal (17 points, 2 assists, 6 rebounds) and Julie Jambrone (8 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds) helped lead the way for the Bison, who were up 53-42 with two minutes to go.
But Lake Zurich hit a 3-pointer and a 3-point play to make things interesting in the final minute.
Kowalski finished with 5 points and 2 assists while Natalie Dimitrova pulled down 5 rebounds.
"Amanda's 3-pointer was huge," Kolodziej said. "It gave us some momentum. Sammy (Stejskal) had some foul trouble early but she did a real nice job finishing up the game. Maddie (Welter) had a real nice game and it was one of the best nights Julie (Jambrone) has had."
For the game, BG shot 18-for-57 from the field after going 6-for-25 in the first half.
"We were getting good looks but couldn't knock them down," Kolodziej said. "It was not our best night shooting."
St. Viator 53, Wauconda 40: Senior Kayne Stanley scored a game-high 19 points and freshman Myia Clark added 11 as the No. 8 seed Lions (10-18) won their semifinal of the Class 4A Wauconda regional over the No. 9-seeded host school.
Jessica Hohlweg chipped in 9 points for Viator, which will face top-seeded Antioch for the title at 7 p.m. Friday.
"I was proud of how focused and how hard our seniors played," said Lions coach Paul Missavage. "Kayne Stanley (4 steals, 5-of-8 free throws) was at her very best and she locked up their best shooting guard. She was great."
Stanley made four straight free throws as the game was winding down.