Cary-Grove gets past Jacobs
When you think of the Cary-Grove girls basketball team the names of Katie Sowa and Abby Getka are prominent.
You can add Maddie Gorz to that list.
The junior guard buried two 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the Trojans' 52-47 Fox Valley Conference win over Jacobs in Cary Friday night.
"Teams concentrate on stopping Katie and Abby," said Gorz. "Coach (Rod Saffert) always tells us the other players have to step up. After the loss to Huntley Tuesday night everybody was fired up for this game. We came in with a lot of positive vibes. I hit a couple of shots early and felt good. It was a very good win."
Gorz, who was 6-of-8 from the field, connected on 2-of-3 from 3-point range and also dished out 3 assists.
'We know teams are going to try take away Katie and that gives others players opportunities," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "Maddie got some good looks and made some shots early. She had a really good game."
The Trojans (5-5, 4-1) were led by Sowa with 17 points while Getka scored 8.
Saffert was also pleased with the Trojans' offensive rebounding as the hosts snared 20 boards off the offensive glass with 6 putbacks, 4 by Sowa and 1 each from Getka and Katie Demert.
'Their offensive rebounding was certainly the difference in the game, no doubt about it," said Jacobs coach Joe Benoit. "We gave them too many second chances."
Cary-Grove, which led 27-20 at halftime, scored the first 7 points of the third quarter which included 5 points from Sowa and a basket by Gorz.
With 5:18 left in the quarter, the Trojans held a 34-20 advantage.
The Golden Eagles' (3-5, 2-2) first basket of the second half came on a layup from Kyra Cabusao with 3:48 left in the third quarter to make the score 34-22.
The Trojans' biggest lead of the night was 16, 48-32, after 2 free throws by Maddie Jannusch with 3:28 left.
The Golden Eagles didn't quit. Spearheaded by a pair of 3-pointers from Kerri Healy and treys by Carly Sidor and Cabusao, the Eagles ripped off a 12-2 run and whittled the Trojan lead to 50-44 with 33 seconds left.
Two free throws by Sowa with 18 ticks left sealed the win for Cary-Grove.
Jacobs, which connected on 9-of-25 from beyond the arc for 36 percent, was paced by Sidor with 14 points which included two 3s and Healy collected 3 treys in scoring 13 points.
'I liked the way we fought in the fourth quarter and never gave up," said Benoit. "We had great energy in the fourth quarter and I like the way we responded to challenges tonight."