Christian Liberty rolls to 11th win

Christian Liberty girls basketball coach Steve Rowland likes when his team is pushing the ball up and down the court.

"We don't have a problem putting points on the board when we are doing that," he said.

His Chargers found the perfect team for that style on Thursday night when Westlake Christian came to town from Grayslake.

"We are really the only team in our conference (Illinois Christian) that likes to press so it was nice to play another team that presses," said Eagles coach Kenley Perry.

Sure enough, the fast-paced tempo led to plenty of points for the Chargers.

In fact, they easily reached a season high in a wire-to-wire 75-41 triumph.

Eight of the nine Chargers who played made it into scoring column, led by sophomore Megan Ng who connected for a career-high 20 points.

Freshman Audrey Law added 15 while classmates Julia Wolke and Melissa Castro each chipped in 12.

"As you can tell, we are outsized just about every time we play," Rowland said. "They had some big girls so we used our speed to kind of counter that and it worked tonight."

It doesn't hurt having Wolke, the seventh-place finisher in last fall's Class 1A cross country state meet.

"I loved it," the Des Plaines native said of the up-tempo game. "I like running so that was good. At the beginning, I didn't really expect that we'd score 75 points. That's a lot. I'm really proud of my team."

A team in which she is one of nine freshmen along with two sophomores and two seniors.

Plus, key Chargers were missing (due to mission work and an orchestra concert), including senior starter Annika Dinkelman who averages 8 points and 8 rebounds per game.

"With those girls missing against this team, I'm happy," Rowland said. "It was a good effort. Really I was a little worried knowing those girls weren't here."

Ng certainly was on hand Thursday, in her usual playmaking style.

"I can't give enough credit to Megan," Rowland said. "She is the quarterback. Julia (Wolke) gets a lot of points and a lot are coming off assists from Megan."

Ng said she knew the Chargers (11-7) were capable of a big offensive game.

"When he (Rowland) taught us the offense, we would always be looking for the open person," she said. "Tonight, I think we were able to hit the open person and run the floor which led to lot of points."

Sophomore forward Sophie Sensenig scores a lot for the Eagles (9-6) with her 20 points per game. Thursday was no exception as she connected for 24, with a pair of 3-pointers.

"She's definitely our all-star but we really play as a team," said Perry, whose club is in second place in its conference at 4-1. "They (CLA) are quick and we were in the game for the first half. But we got gassed at the end."

"I'm really proud of the girls," Rowland said. "They worked hard. This is a fun group. I have blast coaching them. More importantly, they want to learn."