Rolling Meadows' defense clamps down on Wheeling

When playing Mid-Suburban East games, Rolling Meadows girls basketball coach Ryan Kirkorsky says you have to be on your toes for every game.

"It's just about finding ways to win," said the veteran coach.

Despite going without a 3-pointer for the first time in its 13 games, the host Mustangs found a way to win with their defense leading the way.

Holding Wheeling to single digits in the final three quarters, Meadows was able to pull away in the third quarter to put away a 40-27 win on Wednesday night.

"We just worked real hard on defense," said RM guard Alexa Davis, who shared team scoring honors (10 points) with freshman Moira Hickey. "We talked and communicated and that's what really helps. It was on our minds to come back from our last two losses (Buffalo Grove and Lake Park). We wanted to play stronger, and that's what we did."

The Mustangs improved to 10-3 and 2-1 in the East while Wheeling stands at 4-7 and 0-3.

"It's been a busy five days, playing Friday and Tuesday," Kirkorsky said. "This was one of those games where we knew we would need contributions from a lot of people and we got that."

In all, seven Mustangs contributed points including Susannah Holifield (6 points), Mallory Brand (4), Samantha Elenz (4), Alison Sellergen (3) and Lily Greifenstein (3).

Hickey scored 8 of her 10 points with inside buckets in the third quarter when Meadows outscored Wheeling 14-5.

"We know she can do that," Kirkorsky said. "We see her do it in practice. I thought she was a little more assertive today and we need that from her."

Wheeling, which led 7-2 following a 3-pointer by Tommy Helms (7 points) with 5:52 in the first quarter, also received 6 points apiece from Sophia Stanke and Nosa Igiehon while Morgan Collar chipped in 5.

"I thought we did a great job following our game plan defensively," said Wheeling coach Matt Weber. "And we carried it over into the second half. One of our goals was playing four quarters of defensive basketball so I definitely thought that was encouraging and something we can build on going forward."

The 6-foot Igiehon, always a force on the front line with the 6-foot Collar, missed about 10 minutes due to foul trouble.

"Playing without Nosa is always a disadvantage but we had some people step up and fill her shoes for a little bit on the defensive end," Weber added. "That was good to see. The more people we can have playing in the game, the better it's going to be."

"Obviously Wheeling has an inside-outside game and their posts are two of the toughest matchups in the conference," Kirkorsky said. "So I thought we adjusted well as the game went on. When you are playing Wheeling, you know it's going to be a tough, kind of grind-it-out game, and I thought our kids did a nice job with that."