Inside adjustment, outside shooting help BG past St .Viator
Buffalo Grove came out hitting its 3-pointers from the outside but missing defensive assignments on the inside.
Once focused on protecting the middle, the Bison were able to turn a 31-31 halftime tie into a 65-48 nonconference girls basketball triumph over visiting St. Viator on Monday night.
"We kind of sagged back on defense (in the second half) because they were getting their points in the lane on us in the first half," said Bison senior guard Maddie Welter, who tossed in 16 points with four 3-pointers. "Our defense in the second half is what won the game for us."
In all, the Bison (6-2) connected for a season-high 11 3-pointers from 26 attempts.
Other top scorers for BG were senior guard Sammy Stejskal (game-high 19 points with three 3-pointers), Georgette Topalis (10 points with two 3-pointers), Amanda Kowalski (9 points with one 3-pointer and Megan Gamber (3 points with a 3-pointer).
"We have really good shooters," said Stejskal, whose 21 points were her season-high. "Sometimes we might settle for the 3-point shot too much. But we feel everyone the team is good at it."
The Bison's good defense in the second half began quickly when they capitalized on a turnover in the first minute that resulted in a 3-pointer by Welter giving BG a 36-31 lead.
St. Viator (3-5) stayed within double digits until Kowalski's 3-pointer made it 55-45 with 5:10 left.
"They (Buffalo Grove) are very good every year," said Lions senior guard Maggie Leazer (8 points), who led Viator with a pair of 3-pointers while teammates Myia Clark (9 points) and Julie Bergstrom (9 points) each had one.
"We are a young team and figuring out our style of play. We had a few too many turnovers in the third quarter. But it's still early in the season and we have a new coach (Jason Raymond) and a new system we are learning."
Raymond's Lions come right back with a nonconference game today at Elk Grove, followed by their East Suburban Catholic Conference opener against Joliet Catholic on Wednesday in Arlington Heights.
"We are starting to come together as a team," Leazer added. "We've just got to fix a few things in practice and it will come together."
Sophomore forward Haley Robinson scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the first half while Viator also got scoring from Jenna Breslin, Olivia Solimene and Michaela Mueller, who provided a couple of key assists as did Clark.
When it was trying to extend it lead in the final quarter, BG got a couple of big layups and 2 free throws from senior Natali Dimitrova when she scored all 6 of her points.
"We've got to come ready to play basketball all four quarters," said Bison coach Steve Kolodziej. "We were two different teams in the two halfs.
"In the second half, we played team basketball on both ends of the floor. In the first half, we had some individual basketball. But I give our girls credit. They accepted the criticism at half and had a great second half."