Tirzmalis, Lake Forest subdue Grayslake North

Grace Tirzmalis had the half of basketball that players dream about.

On the eve of Wednesday night's Class 4A regional semifinal at Grayslake North, Tirzmalis' Lake Forest teammate and close friend Jen Whittington had a bad dream.

"She said, 'I had a nightmare last night that we lost,' " Tirzmalis, a junior forward, said of Whittington, a senior forward. "We have such a great group of seniors. I just wanted to go out there and play my best so it wasn't their last game and it wasn't my last time playing with them because I love them all so much."

Whittington can sleep easy. Tirzmalis came off the bench to score 18 of her career-high 21 points in the first half, and second-seeded Lake Forest rolled to a 61-24 win over No. 15 Grayslake North. Tirzmalis, who finished 9-of-14 shooting, also had 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

Not in her wildest dreams did she see her first-half performance coming.

"I did not think that was going to happen," Tirzmalis said.

Sophomore Halle Douglass added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Lake Forest (22-9), which advanced to Friday's 7 p.m. regional final against No. 7 Lake Zurich (17-10). Lake Zurich defeated Lake Forest in a pair of close games (30-29 and 40-34) during North Suburban Conference action.

Tirzmalis' hot start against No. 15 Grayslake North (12-17) coincided with her team's. The Scouts scored the game's first 7 points and led 10-4 when the 6-foot-1 Tirzmalis substituted in. She made all 4 of her shots, including a 3-pointer, in the opening quarter, which ended with Lake Forest up 22-4.

"It was as scripted, I guess," said Scouts coach Kyle Wilhelm, smiling. "We did a great job of contesting the 3s. It started our defense. Then we got out in transition with our defensive rebounds and we were beating them down the floor."

Lake Forest made 8 of 16 shots in the first quarter, while Grayslake North went just 2 of 11 from the floor and committed 8 turnovers.

"Against a team like Lake Forest, we know they're really good, so we need a lot of things to go our way," Grayslake North coach Rob Nicoletti said. "That was us making shots and them hopefully missing some shots, and neither one of those things happened early on. They were on fire early. We had some good looks that hopefully would have kept it close in that first quarter."

Tirzmalis kept up her torrid play in the second quarter, going 4 of 6 from the floor. Her basket midway through the opening quarter commenced a 25-0 run. She had all of her first-half points during the stretch, as she dominated down low.

"Grace had a monstrous first half inside," Wilhelm said. "Even when they started doubling her, we were able to (find) someone else. We just imposed our will in the post."

Tirzmalis' 8-of-10 shooting helped the Scouts take a 35-6 lead into halftime.

"I don't think I've ever had a half, scoring-wise, like that," Tirzmalis said. "I feel like sometimes if I'm not scoring, I try to focus more on my defense."

Tirzmalis, who's been a varsity player since her freshman year, has come off the bench most of the season but typically plays starters' minutes.

"She's been an amazing spark off the bench," Wilhelm said. "When she is playing like that offensively and defensively and rebounding, that's when we're clearly at our (best)."

Tirzmalis and Olivia Douglass (8 points, 6 rebounds) each sank a pair of 3-pointers for Lake Forest.

Savannah Guenther led Grayslake North with 11 points and 5 rebounds. Her older sister, Abbey Guenther, scored 8 points.