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Streamwood's comeback falls short

A valiant comeback effort by the Streamwood girls basketball team came up short on Monday night as the Sabres' season came to an end with 51-45 loss to Rockford East at the Class 4A Hampshire sectional semifinals.

All seemed lost for Streamwood after falling behind 30-14 at halftime and standout post player Jenejha Williams saddled with 3 fouls. However, the Sabres weren't going down without a fight.

An 11-0 run late in the third quarter whittled the deficit down to 35-29. Maddi Exline had 6 points in the third quarter. Freshman point guard Mandy Mien had 4 free throws during the run.

Following a Rockford East basket to end the third quarter the Sabres scored the first 5 points in the fourth quarter. Williams' basket inside pulled the Sabres within 37-34 with 7:02 left to play.

Streamwood (15-14) was still within 41-38 after an Exline putback basket with 4:33 to play, but they could get no closer.

Rockford East (27-4) answered with a 3-pointer on its next possession. They hit 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

"I am really proud of the way we came back," Streamwood coach George Rosner said. "We knew we had played a very poor first half. We had way too many turnovers and too many missed layups. But in the second half we knew if we could finish some of those shots and try to get the ball more into point guard Mandy's hands we could make a game of it."

The Sabres turned the ball over 9 times in the first quarter and shot just 4 of 28 (14 percent) from the field in the first half.

"Unfortunately we dug ourselves too big of a hole," Rosner said. "We knew they were going to pressure the ball a lot, but we just didn't handle it very well. Plus I think we got a little frustrated with the missed shots especially the layups. The second half we were much more patient."

The loss brings an end to a stellar career for Williams, who finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

"She is definitely an elite player," Rosner said. "One of the best to ever play in our program. She's going to be missed. There's just no replacing her. She was something special."

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