Kowalski's career day lifts Meadows over Vernon Hills
To the surprise of no one, the volleyball/softball player can play some basketball, too.
Rolling Meadows' Elise Kowalski, just a few months away from taking the mound for her senior year, pitched the best half of her basketball career on Saturday morning at the Libertyville girls basketball holiday tournament.
Super sub Kowalski scored 12 points (11 was her career high) in the final 16 minutes and finished with 14 to help lead the Mustangs to a 53-43 win over Vernon Hills.
Hardly anyone was surprised.
Not classmate Alexa Davis.
"She is really talented and really helps us," Davis said, herself a two-sport athlete (soccer) who scored a game-high 17 points.
Not RM coach Ryan Kirkorsky.
"Part of it is that she knows how to compete because she has been in a lot of situations in all three sports," he said. "You saw that today with her stepping up big."
Not Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner, who happened to be in the same 1985 class at Meadows with Kowalski's father and Hersey hall of fame coach Mary Fendley.
"I knew about Elise through the newspaper and how she can score," Brettner said. "She's a great kid. And I got to talk to her father on Friday when I was scouting for the tournament. "
Kowalski's effort, which included a pair of 3-pointers, nice running in the transition game and tough work inside, was just what the doctor ordered when you listen to Kirkorsky.
"We said to our kids that when you're playing a lot of games like this in a Christmas tournament, that you're going to need different people to step up," the veteran coach said. "We said we need everybody, and I thought Elise was awesome today, not only knocking down a couple of big shots but also going to the boards and finishing around the rim."
Meadows (13-3, 2-0 in the tourney) finished strong on Saturday, expanding a 31-26 lead to 43-33 when Davis hit her second 3-pointer with 4:38 left in the game.
Senior guard Lily Greifenstein added 9 points for the Mustangs while Alison Sellergren, Susannah Holifield, Samantha Elenz, Moira Hickey and Mallory Brand also found the basket.
Kowalski's first basket came on a drive late in the first half to give Meadows a 20-14 advantage.
"When I'm on the bench at the start, I like to help support my team and cheer them on," said Kowalski, who does not intend to play sports collegiately but is planning to studying nursing. "I definitely think the training for all the sports helps me prepare for each and every one. Pitching helps make my legs stronger and better for conditioning."
The Cougars (9-5, 1-1 in the tourney) were led by sophomore guard Daniella Jarrell (10) and senior forward Kayla Caudle (9). Junior Emily Singer and senior Piper Bedell each chipped in 7.
"We had foul trouble in the first half, but hung in there, and I thought that would lead to good things in the second half," Brettner said. "But when we got our starters back in, we still couldn't make a big enough run to close the gap to our positive. We had some pretty good defensive efforts on No. 3 (Davis) and 10 (Greifenstein). We had kids trailing them who worked their tails off but we allowed too many offensive rebounds and the second-chance points killed us.
"We had too many unforced errors. To beat a team like Rolling Meadows you've got to be a lot better than that, and we just weren't today."