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Cary-Grove's Sowa breaks 1,000 barrier, leads Trojans to win

It seemed appropriate.

Katie Sowa's long 3-pointer to beat the third quarter buzzer gave the Cary-Grove senior and 4-year starter 22 points on the evening and 1,000 career points.

She became the ninth Trojan in girls basketball history to join the 1,000 point club.

Sowa ended the night with 24 points to lead the Trojans to a 57-36 win over Crystal Lake Central in Fox Valley Conference action in Cary Tuesday night.

The night belonged to Sowa, who was 10-of-15 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. She added 9 rebounds and dealt out 4 assists.

"Katie joins an elite group," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "She has gotten better every year and has improved in some area every year. She is really tough to defend because she can use her left hand so well. Her post moves are so good. She can score inside or outside. We have a lot of season left. She has a chance to score a lot more points."

Sowa was relieved to reach the 1,000 point barrier.

"My teammates are great," she said. "They got me the ball in great position to score. I have been thinking about 1,000 points and I am glad it's over. It was fun and exciting."

Central coach Derek Crabill is impressed with Sowa's game.

"She works hard to get the ball and she can post up and score and she can go outside and shoot the 3," said the Central coach. "Her hard work has paid off."

Leading 11-6 after 1 quarter, Cary-Grove (4-2, 1-0) seized control of the game by scoring the first 9 points of the second quarter.

Sowa scored 6 points on 3 baskets and Elsa Larry buried a 3-pointer and the Trojans held a 20-6 advantage with 5:28 left in the first half.

Central (2-4, 0-1), which was 9 of 40 from the floor for 22 percent and 5 of 20 from beyond the arc, scored its first points of the second quarter on a driving layup from Hailey Geske with 3:18 left in the half to make the score 20-8.

The Trojans' biggest lead of the game was 49-22 on a trey by Bailey Steinkamp with 4:08 remaining in the contest.

Vanessa Morris backed Sowa with 7 points and 4 assists.

"We played well at times but we made too many silly mistakes," said Saffert. "Our defense was solid but we need to execute better at both ends of the court."

The visiting Tigers, who were hindered by 27 turnovers, were paced by Corrie Hamill with 13 points including 3 treys.

"We didn't attack their zone very well and settled for shots," said Crabill. "We were timid at the beginning and passed up really good shots. After the first quarter I thought we played better and did some good things."

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