Van Fleet, Maine West roll over short-handed Lake Zurich
Maine West senior guard Dylan Van Fleet made shots in a girls basketball game at Lake Zurich Saturday afternoon.
Made hustle plays.
Made teammates feel grateful for her alert passes.
Made quite an impression on spectators, as she scored 17 points - all in the first half - and totaled 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 7 steals in the Warriors' 59-26 nonconference defeat of the Bears.
Now, about that cookie cake, the sweet gift that Van Fleet brought to practice late last week to celebrate the selection of classmate and University of Oregon-bound Angela Dugalic to compete in the McDonald's All-American Game in Houston April 1?
"I didn't make that cake," the 5-foot-8 Van Fleet admitted. "Jewel did."
Give an assist to the supermarket - and a few more points to Van Fleet for her kindness.
Her competitiveness, on Saturday afternoon?
That was glaring, once again, every second of every minute she was on the hardwood for the reigning Class 4A state champion. Also a fervent striker in soccer and a two-time recipient of the "Most Competitive" award in cross country at Maine West, Van Fleet netted 9 points and 6 rebounds in the first quarter.
And all 9 of those points came in a 10-2 run that fattened the Warriors' lead to 16-5. Maine West (20-3) went up 18-5 on a bucket by reserve senior forward Melissa Gomez, with Van Fleet providing the assist.
"Dylan attacks the ball if it's loose, gets to the ball ... always gets to the ball," Warriors coach Kim deMarigny said. "She's a ball magnet. I've seen her play soccer. She wins 50-50 balls in soccer - every 50-50 ball."
Maine West, which received a game-high 18 points and 6 boards from Dugalic, led 32-11 at the half. Lake Zurich's young squad - playing without injured seniors Ella Gilbertson (high ankle) and Margueret Spear (ankle) - tallied nearly half of its total points in a 12-point third quarter.
Bears freshman guard Baylie Parks (15 points, 5 rebounds) hit a pair of field goals and a trey in that encouraging frame.
"Our plan was to be aggressive, play hard and see what happens," said the 5-10 Parks, who scored all 5 of her club's points in the first quarter and all 3 (on a 3-pointer) of LZ's points in the final stanza. "Maine West is such a good team, the way its players move the ball around, as well as the way it utilizes its great players."
LZ coach Chris Bennett increased Parks' minutes in Montini tournament games in late December, and Parks delivered with 10- and 15-point efforts.
"Games like those helped Baylie gain confidence in her game overall," said Bennett, whose Bears (12-8) defeated host Waukegan 57-54 Friday night behind 36 points (double her previous career-high total) from sophomore guard Alayna Soukup. "And Baylie continues to gain confidence in her 3-point shot."
The 6-3 Dugalic - Illinois' lone female McDonald's All-American this year and the first female in Maine West history to have been chosen to play in the premier event - picked up her fourth foul at 4:58 of the third quarter Saturday, but the inside/outside threat paced the Warriors the rest of the way with 9 points, including 5 straight at the outset of the fourth quarter. Fifty-eight seconds after the end of that spurt, Warriors senior guard Lena Albo (8 points, 6 assists, 5 steals) upped the visitor's advantage to 53-23 via her second 3-pointer of the matinee.
"I liked the way our girls adjusted defensively," de Marigny said. "We ask them to run hard, trap often. Chris' kids are always prepared. He's got another scrappy team this season. Plus it's a young group, an incredibly young (5 sophomores, 3 freshmen) one.
"Watch out for Lake Zurich in a couple of years," she added.
Bears freshman guard Brooke Wahlund came down with a team-high 7 rebounds.