Meadows hangs on to down Lakes

Down by 8 points, Lakes' girls basketball team made a big move to start the final quarter on Wednesday night at Rolling Meadows.

The Eagles got a putback from senior Mia Edwards and a 3-pointer by classmate Taylor Lehman to pull to within 43-40 with 7:13 left.

But then Lily Greifenstein made her big move.

She went from the top of the key and curled her way to the basket for layup and 3-point play for a 46-40 advantage.

Moments later, the 5-foot-7 senior guard took a pass from classmate Alexa Davis and scored a fastbreak layup for an 8-point lead and the Mustangs held on from there for a 62-54 triumph in their first game of the Turkey Thriller.

Greifenstein finished with a game-high 22 points.

But that was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

"Our team slogan is 'we' and both our first two wins have definitely been 'we' games," she said. "We worked together. We made the right plays. It's just been overall a great group effort. I give credit to my team all the time."

Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky handed out credit to Greifenstein.

"It's kind of what we expect form Lily being a three-year varsity player," he said. "I think she was kind of disappointed with her shooting in our first game (win over Glenbard West on Monday).

"But to her credit she played the right way that entire game. This game, I thought she was aggressive getting to the basket and knocking down some free throws."

The Mustangs (2-0) knocked home 20 shots for the game, including five from long range.

Greifenstein, junior Kelsie Campbell (5 points), junior Susannah Holifield (8 points), freshman Alison Sellergren (3 points) and freshman Moira Hickey each had one 3-pointer.

"We hope to go nine or 10 kids deep each game," Kirkorsky said. "We have a lot of kids who can impact the game in a lot of different ways."

Senior Mia Edwards made her impact felt inside for Lakes (1-1) as she scored a career-high 20 points.

"We told out kids before the game, and at half, that Lakes was a team that was not going away," Kirkorsky said. "I thought they played well and incredibly hard."

Davis finished with 10 points for Meadows while Elise Kowalski (4 points), Mallory Brand (3 points) and Samantha Elenz (2 points) all had baskets.

"Our entire team is very skilled," Greifenstein added. "We are pretty deep on the bench."