Sherwood surpasses 1,000 in Prospect's playoff win

When you watch Catherine Sherwood on the basketball floor, it seems like there are a thousand ways she can beat you to the basket.

Appropriately enough on Wednesday night, she became the eighth player in Prospect girls basketball history to score 1,000 points.

Needing just 1 point to reach the milestone, Sherwood did it by hitting the first of two free throws with 3:07 left in the first quarter.

It also gave Prospect a 12-3 lead which was eventually extended to 31-3.

The Mid-Suburban League East champs went on to post a 50-25 victory in the semifinal game of the Class 4A Grayslake North Class regional over the host school, which was seeded 15th in the Palatine sectional.

No. 2 Prospect (25-2) will face No. 7 Rolling Meadows (19-9) in Friday's 7 p.m. championship.

Sherwood also had a nice touch of timing as she hit the magic number on the same day Prospect reached a school record 25 wins for one season, breaking the mark of the 2004 squad (24-6).

"That (school record for wins) speaks volumes about our team," said Sherwood, a 6-foot senior who even more impressively got to 1,000 points in only three seasons on the varsity. "Not only how we play on the basketball floor, but how we do everything else as a team. We've had some amazing memories."

Prospect's Ashley Graham's probably remembers every point because Sherwood has scored them all in Graham's three seasons as the head coach.

"To do this in three seasons is just a tribute to Cat and her abilities as an offensive player," Graham said. "She is only the eighth girl to do it at Prospect and that only shows how much work she has put in and how talented a player she is.

"She is so athletic and so quick. She just has an arsenal of moves. I'm very proud of her."

Prospect's stifling man-to-man defense made it tough for Grayslake to get shots.

The host school was limited to one 3-pointer by freshman Brandi Thibeaux in the first 12 minutes.

Senior Taylor Will led Prospect with 15 points followed by junior Brenda Kendziera (8) and Sherwood (6) as Graham was able to give her starters plenty of rest in the second half.

"Our game plan was to come out strong and put pressure on them right away," said Taylor Will, whose steal and layup followed by Haley Will's 3-pointer made it 11-0 less than three minutes into the game.

Sherwood's 1,000 point brought a roar from the Prospect stands.

"It was so exciting," Taylor Will added. "Only eight girls have done it. It's amazing she did it in three seasons. I was so excited for her."

Sherwood never thought it was possible until the start of the this season.

"Coach told me of I averaged about 15 or 16 points, I could get there," Sherwood said. "Sometimes I would really get on myself when I didn't have a good offensive game. But I kept working at it and made it a personal goal. It's a huge honor because Prospect girls basketball has been so good for so many years. It's an honor to be up there with an elite group of payers from the program."

Prospect hopes to be in an elite group of regional winning teams from the program after Friday night.

"The kids are obviously excited about the playoffs," Graham said. "They are not taking anything for granted. They see this as an opportunity to start over at 0-0. It's a new chapter and the kids are taking it that way."

Prospect certainly wanted to take off offensively on Wednesday.

"We've been working on offensive things since our Fremd game (loss in the title game eight days ago)," Graham said. "We had some great slashes to the basket and some nice kick-outs in this game. That allowed us to get a comfortable lead early."

Thibeaux, who scored Grayslake North's first 5 points, finished with a team-high 10 points and a pair of 3-pointers. Sophomore Sidney Lovitsch added 6 and senior Maggie Fish 5. Junior Kelly O'Brien and senior Kayla Hartigan also had 3-pointers for the host school.

Prospect also had four 3-pointers with one apiece from Emily Frasco, Nikki Matters, Hannah Grott and Haley Will.

"Prospect is an impressive team and they'll be a tough out in these playoffs," said Grayslake North coach Rob Nicoletti, whose team finished at 17-14. "I'm very proud of all of the girls on our team. They worked really hard all season long to keep improving and did it while being great students and people."