Rolling Meadows picks up speed, passes up Round Lake

Rolling Meadows fell behind Round Lake 2-0 on Tuesday night at the Hersey Class 4A regional in Arlington Heights.

But once the Mustangs started scoring, they didn't stop.

A layup by junior guard Kyra Spiwak (game-high 15 points, 4 assists) with 5:22 left in the first quarter ignited an 18-2 run that left the Mustangs leading 18-4 after one quarter.

The No. 5-seeded Mustangs (19-9) went on to deliver a 64-18 triumph over the No. 21 Panthers (5-22) and advanced to Thursday's championship against No. 4 Hersey (23-5) at 7 p.m.

"I think we had to get through some playoff nerves at the start," said Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "Then we had great contributions from a number of kids."

One of those players was junior guard Kelsey Nallon, who had a career-high 12 points and also added a pair of steals.

"Every game is an opportunity to get better," said Nallon, who tossed home a pair of 3-pointers in the second half when she scored 10 of her points. "With everyone contributing this game that was beneficial to myself being able to score.

"In our next game (third time vs. Hersey) we have to play strong and with confidence."

"We have to work harder and smarter than our opponent," added classmate Morgan Campagna (12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assist, 3 steals, 1 blocked shot). "We need to work as a team on offense and defense because when we don't, that's when we have our most problems."

The Mustangs had few problems on Tuesday as nine different girls scored, including Katherine Nolan (9 points), who also had 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Hannah Mickey collected 6 rebounds (four on offense) while also tossing in 5 points. Also making the scoring column for Meadows were Meghan Slowik, Melissa Spiwak, Megan King and Caili Hosler.

The Mustangs were able to get a lot of points in transition.

"We didn't get back on defense and we kind of got outclassed," said Round Lake coach Howard Conkling. "You've got to give a lot of credit to Rolling Meadows. They're a really good team."

Seniors Miyah Johnson and Kiari Terry each had 4 points for the Panthers, whose roster includes eight underclassmen.

"We played a lot of young kids all season,," Conkling said. "And we were close in a lot of game. We are looking forward to next season. I think we will be more competitive in a lot of ways."