advertisement

Lake Zurich's locked in during bounce-back win over Zion-Benton

A twofold shot at redemption necessitated extra practice shots at a basketball net.

At least Saturday morning's shootaround figured to help Lake Zurich's girls, who were trying to atone for a rough night shooting in a loss to Stevenson on Wednesday while also attempting to avenge an earlier-season defeat to Zion-Benton.

And that bonus shooting indeed proved beneficial.

"We came in this morning and did about an hour and 20 minutes of just straight shooting," Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said. "I'd like to think that hopefully that was it."

McKenna Zobel's 12 points and 11 rebounds and a balanced scoring attack led the way Saturday night, as Lake Zurich held on for a 52-51 win over the visiting Zee-Bees, who edged the Bears by 3 points on Dec. 11.

"We remembered that, and we were kind of mad because of our loss to Stevenson," said Bears guard Rachel Kuehr, who scored all 11 of her points after halftime. "We came out and we knew what (Zion-Benton) wanted to do, and they knew what we wanted to do. They're a very good team, and it's really hard to beat them. But we managed to do it."

It was a crushing loss for Zion-Benton (14-7, 6-2), which fell 2 games back of Stevenson in the loss column in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division. The Zee-Bees, who host Stevenson on Friday night, dug themselves a 7-point deficit after three quarters, after trailing just 22-21 at halftime, and couldn't recover.

"I think we beat ourselves," Zion-Benton guard T.T. Maggett said after scoring a game-high 18 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. "Our defense wasn't there, we didn't have any energy, and the effort was barely there. We tried to make up for it in the fourth quarter, but by that time it was a little bit too late."

Lake Zurich (12-8, 5-3) went 22 of 37 from the floor (59 percent), including 9 of 10 in the pivotal third quarter, thanks largely to ball movement that generated good shot selection. Kuehr's 8-point third included a pair of midrange jumpers, and her assist on Abby Pirron's buzzer-beating layup had the Bears up 42-35 entering the fourth.

Consider it shooting practice paying off.

"I think the morning shootarounds get us in rhythm, and that was something that was 'off' Wednesday when we played Stevenson," said Lake Zurich guard Vanessa DiVincenzo, who scored 9 points (4-of-5 shooting from the floor) and hustled for 7 rebounds. "We prepared a lot for the Stevenson game and, when we got out (on the court), we were jittery. We took a deep breath this morning and got our legs in synch."

Kuehr opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a drive to extend Lake Zurich's lead to 44-35, but Zion-Benton turned up its defensive pressure. The Zee-Bees' half-court trap created havoc, and a 10-2 run by the visitors pulled them within 46-45 with 2:50 left.

"They're fast," DiVincenzo said.

When Lake Zurich broke Zion-Benton's press and it led to Pirron's dish to Zobel for an uncontested layup with 50 seconds left, the Bears' lead was 50-47. Kuehr and Pirron each split a pair of free throws down the stretch. Zion-Benton's Krystal Walker (15 points, 7 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer as time ran out.

Marquitta Easley, who Bennett considers one of the Zion-Benton's "three weapons" along with Maggett and Walker, scored 11 points.

Lake Zurich also received double-digit points from Pirron (10), while Grace Kinsey added 8 points.

"The one thing I'm proud about," Bennett said, "is all season, whenever we've had a bad game, we have come back the next game (and played well)."

  Lake Zurich's Grace Kinsey shoots as Zion Benton's Raven Morris looks on in the first half at Lake Zurich on Saturday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Zion Benton's Breanna Tanner applies pressure to Lake Zurich's Rachel Kuehr, who is forced to pass to a teammate in the first half at Lake Zurich on Saturday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.