Unbeaten Maine West charges past Trinity

Since the Dundee-Crown Christmas tournament began in 1983, teams participating in them have won 10 state championships.

One of those is the 1988 Maine West team which went 35-0 under late hall of fame girls basketball coach Derril Kipp, for whom more than handful of this year's players competed three years ago.

So far, those players are sure bringing back memories of Kipp's undefeated Class AA state championship team.

The Warriors are off to a 16-0 start and won their second straight Komaromy Classic on Friday night in Carpentersville with a 54-33 victory over Trinity (River Forest).

While the Warriors have a won majority of their game 25 or more points, they showed their toughness in a few closely-contested games this week.

And speaking of toughness no Warrior epitomized it more than point guard Allison Pearson on Friday, when for the first time in her prep career she took three charging calls.

The first came early in the second quarter, and the North Central College recruit bounced right back and hit a 3-pointer to give West a 21-13 lead.

"This was great, this was for coach Kipp," said Pearson, who scored 6 points with 4 assists, 4 deflections and 1 steal. "We are always playing for him and Maine West and we are glad we could finish this tournament for him."

West finished with three all-tourney selections - Alisa Fallon, Angela Dugalic and Rachel Kent, whose 13 points put her into the Warriors' 1,000-point scoring club. She now has 1,004 points.

"I just play for the team, I don't play for the points," said the 5-foot-10 junior forward who also had 4 rebounds. "The best part of this is winning back-to-back championships. It was really a team effort and I think that's the best thing about this."

Fallon (15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) knew a little something about other team.

She started for Trinity two years ago when the Blazers advanced to the final four of the Class AA state finals.

"It was so fun," said the Army recruit who transferred to Maine West as a junior. "I've been playing with Alex (Fanning) and Lauren (Lee) since seventh grade so it's like playing against my family."

"It was interesting to have Alisa against some of her old teammates," said Maine West coach Kim de Marigny. "It's a friendly rivalry and they're a good team."

The Blazers (11-4) were led by Fanning and Lee, who each scored 8 points.

"I thought we did hang with them a little bit," said Trinity coach Mike Valente, whose team got within 27-25 early in the third quarter. But West responded with a 6-0 run on 2 baskets from Dugalic and one from Kent for a 33-25 lead.

Fallon grabbed a deflection near half court and went all the way to the basket for a layup that made it 39-29 after three quarters.

"I thought that basket Fallon scored at the end of third quarter really hurt," Valente said. "We lost our legs and gave up some key putbacks. They're just so tough at every position."

And Pearson showed how tough she is with her body. She took another charge late in the second quarter and a third early in the fourth quarter that she once again followed up with another 3-pointer for a 45-29 lead.

"Allison always comes in with the dirty work no one else wants to do," Fallon said. "She sparks us that way."

"Allison is a fearless young lady, a competitor through and through," de Marigny said. "She knew that was one of the things we needed to concentrate on because they were driving and penetrating to the basket. And she is willing to move over and take the charge off anyone. She is a gutsy girl."

The Warriors also had a birthday girl on Friday, as Dugalic celebrated turning 16. She turned in her usual solid effort, collecting 13 points and 8 rebounds as Maine West clinched the tourney title on her birthday for the second straight year.

"I'm truly blessed to have such an amazing team," said the smiling Dugalic, a 6-4 sophomore. "It's not just my team - it's my family. And to spend my birthday with these amazing people, I'm beyond happy."

Valente was happy his team had the chance to go up against the highly-ranked Warriors in the Blazer's Komaromy debut.

"We're glad to play a team like this and to be in a tournament with so much history," he said. "I think it will help in the sectional. Hopefully, we'll see them again so we'll just learn from this."

The Warriors, who have won their 16 games by an average of 40 points, got to learn about playing in tighter games.

"We were a little slow getting started a couple of times this week," said de Marigny, whose team also received 3 rebounds and 2 assists from Catherine Johnson and 5 points and 3 rebounds from Jessica Riedl.

"The competition is always great here at Dundee so we appreciate that the girls responded to the conditions.

"When they (Trinity) got to within 2 points of us, the girls didn't fall apart which is always a good thing. I don't like when we let teams get that close, but we just want to continue play together, play hard and enjoy the game. They're a great bunch of girls who really enjoy being together and playing together."

A week from today, the Warriors face defending Class AA state champion Geneva at 6 p.m. at Benet Academy.

"Those are the games we want," de Marigny added. "We want to get better. We really need to work on things to get better on execution."