Mien, Streamwood on their game at West Chicago
West Chicago was fired up after Senior Night festivities on Thursday.
But it didn't take senior Mandy Mien and her Streamwood teammates long to douse any hopes the Wildcats had of pulling an upset.
Mien turned in a performance most points guards can only dream about, and she got plenty of help in propelling the visiting Sabres to a 69-45 Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball victory.
Mien scored 17 points and led all players with 15 rebounds and 7 steals. The Sabres combined to sink 10 3-pointers, six of which came in the first quarter in which Streamwood roared out to a 22-0 lead.
"That was a great start," Streamwood coach George Rosner said. "We were hitting the 3s and doing a lot of good things.
"We talked about taking the crowd out because they had a pretty good, vocal crowd. I said we've got to get off to a good start and try to take that crowd out of the game.
"I think Mandy keyed that with a couple steals. Then we spread the ball around and everyone was hitting their shots."
Indeed, Mien scored six of her seven baskets off steals and the resulting layups, including two during the opening run. When she wasn't doing that, she was finding her shooters with devastating effect.
Sayuri Ishikawa drained four 3-pointers. Kaylee Angle and Peyton Hedger each sank a pair. Idalyd Ocampo, Samantha DeMarco and Alyssa Santiago also hit from downtown.
"That was amazing," Mien said. "I just gave them the ball and they finished it. That's what I like to do - get the assist."
Ishikawa, who finished with 12 points, made back-to-back 3s to finish the first quarter before Ocampo hit one to start the second quarter to give the Sabres (11-16, 8-9) a 31-4 lead.
"We knew coming in it was their Senior Night and they were probably really full of energy," Mien said. "We stuck with our game, didn't let the crowd tear us down and then finished it strong."
West Chicago coach Mark Fitzgerald went with an all-senior lineup that included only one regular starter. The Wildcats (6-22, 4-13) actually outscored the Sabres over the final 23 minutes.
"It's a tradition that all the years I've been coaching high school I start my seniors (on Senior Night) and I'm not going to change that," Fitzgerald said. "There were four non-starters in that group and (the Sabres) got a little momentum based on that, but there was no quit in the team.
"We had them thinking about things for a little bit."
Senior Shelbie Steward tallied a game-high 18 points for the Wildcats. Junior point guard Shailee Patel scored all of her 15 points in the second half and finished with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
But they were no match for Mien and her minions. Mien's rebound total was a personal high and six of them came on the offensive glass.
"She has a knack for the ball," Rosner said. "She's played enough that she knows where the ball is going and her quickness.
"You can't teach it. It's her. She's the best point guard we've ever had here."