Kloss, Carmel get it going quickly
It was already 9-0 before Carmel Catholic senior Cassidy Kloss stepped up for the Corsairs’ offense, and her personal flurry lasted all of a minute and a half.
Her rebound and bucket made it 11-0. She had a pair of 3-point plays. Her 15-footer made it a 21-1 game.
In all, No. 14 in Carmel’s lineup scored 14 consecutive points for her team against Grant on Tuesday night in Mundelein’s High School Turkey Tournament.
Carmel (2-0) opened up a 27-7 first-quarter lead in a 72-55 win over Grant.
“I missed a couple of shots,’’ Kloss said. “And then I started to take it to the basket. And then I made some outside shots.”
Carmel coach Kelly Perz was unaware of Kloss’ personal streak.
“That’s awesome,’’ Perz said. “I didn’t notice that. But Cassidy can shoot and she’s the best passer of the team. She sees the court really well. She worked so hard in the summer. She’s a woman on a mission.”
Simple math tells us the Corsairs (2-0) were on pace to score 108 points in this contest.
“We came out blazing,’’ Perz said. “Everything was going right for us. But hats off to Grant. They really came back at us.”
Seemingly buried in the first quarter, the Bulldogs did make a game out of it. And that comeback came despite Grant not scoring a single field goal in the first quarter. On the second of two 3-pointers from Grant senior guard Kaylie Kanzler, the Bulldogs had cut that 20-point lead in half at 63-53 late in the fourth quarter.
“We had way too many turnovers in that first quarter,’’ said Grant coach Matt Lukemeyer. “But I’m proud of the way we came back. Carmel is tough. They are so scrappy. They are so good defensively. They really get after it.”
Kloss was glad to see her Corsairs start so crisply.
“Yesterday was a sloppy game for us,’’ Kloss said. “So that was an improvement.”
Kloss noted many of her teammates have played together since fifth grade for the Junior Corsairs feeder program.
“We are looking good as the season starts,’’ she said. “Grant made a couple runs at us but we picked it up and closed it out pretty well.”
Grant (0-2) stormed back in the third quarter. A steal and layup from Jasmine Sangster opened the scoring in the third quarter. A gorgeous drive and scoop shot from Kanzler gave Grant the first 4 points of the third quarter.
“Those two will do good things for us,’’ Lukemeyer said. “We’ll bounce back.”
Sangster and Kanzler shared scoring honors for the Bulldogs with 14 points each.
Kloss led all scorers with 21 points. Kathleen Felicelli overcame some early foul trouble to post 15 points for Carmel, and inside threat Emma Rappe stepped out and landed a 3-pointer on her way to 13 points.
“She’s very versatile,’’ Perz said of Rappe. “She has a nice outside shot. And she’s a tough matchup.”