Carmel nips Grayslake Central
Carmel Catholic's girls basketball team found a way to win another regional for the third straight year. The Corsairs used a lot of heart to pull this one out, especially for a team that has played under .500 basketball and has been through a number of injuries.
But Katie Lach has stepped up in both games this postseason leading the Corsairs. She had 24 points in a regional semifinal victory over Ridgewood and followed it up with another 21, which was just enough for fifth-seeded Carmel to upend host and third-seeded Grayslake Central 40-39 Thursday night in Grayslake, sending Carmel home for its own Class 3A sectional Monday night to play Marengo.
Lach's night started before the game, since she won the 3-point shooting contest and she followed it up with a few more during the game.
The Corsairs also wanted this one after a 1-point overtime loss to the Rams in the Warren Blue Devil Classic during the holiday break.
"We really were all excited to get back after them from that loss," Lach said. "Just feels so good that we were able to do it. It's great to have a second shot."
Lach was able to score 15 of her points in the second half, but she helped out with rebounds and had a key block in the final minute.
"Sometimes it will burn you and sometimes it will pay off," said Lach, who is 5-foot-9. "I guess it was just lucky."
Carmel (15-17) had a number of Class 4A schools on its schedule and might have been ready for this postseason run.
"It's great for them and for the seniors, they get to play at home on Monday," Carmel coach Ben Berg said. "We had some injuries before the season, during the season, we have people missing for illness and other reasons. People had to adapt to different roles. I knew if we hung together that our schedule would lighten up a bit by the end of the season. We were playing some tough teams and we struggled. We play a tough schedule, play our best basketball when we come into February."
On Thursday, it was a back-and-forth matchup all game long and neither team was able to pull way until late in the contest.
Carmel's Grace Sullivan made a 3-point play with 1:21 left for a 39-36 lead. Then, Caitlin Teehan made 1 of 2 free throws for a 40-36 lead with 22.7 remaining.
The Rams' Rosie Drevline (10 points) dropped in a trey that cut the margin down to one at 40-39 with 13.8 left. Carmel missed a pair of free throws with 9.3 seconds left while Grayslake Central had one last chance in the final seconds and had a shot come up short.
Katie Bullman led the Rams (23-8) with 12 points.
"The difference was (Carmel) made one more shot then we did," Grayslake Central Coach Steve Ikenn said. "At the end of the day, we turned the ball over the same amount that they did. They hit their outside shots and we didn't. We worked our butts off. (Carmel) was well-coached and they played well. We didn't get a chance to get out and run. They slowed it down to their pace."