Streamwood's 4th quarter lead slips away
Ava Interrante and Katie Beyer combined to score 18 points in the fourth quarter to help McHenry (24-8) rally for a 62-54 victory over host Streamwood during Tuesday's Class 4A girls basketball regional semifinals.
The 3rd-seeded Warriors, who trailed 42-38 after 3 quarters, outscored the 6th-seeded Sabres (11-17) 24-12 in the decisive final period to earn a regional championship date with 2nd-seeded Barrington (21-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday.
"I don't think we turned it over there in the fourth quarter," said McHenry coach Rob Niemic. "We got a great shot or we got fouled."
The game was tied at 48-48 with 3 minutes left when McHenry went on an 8-0 run over the next 48 seconds, ignited by Interrante's 3-pointer that put the Warriors ahead to stay at 51-48 with 2:38 remaining.
"I knew I was tired but I had to keep shooting," said Interrante, who scored 11 of her game-high 22 points in the final 8 minutes. "I couldn't let my team down. We really wanted to win this game because we want to win a regional."
Beyer, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, added a 3-point play and a pair of free throws as the Warriors extended their lead to 8 down the stretch.
Beyer finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while junior guard Ashley Wachter added 15 points.
McHenry got off to a great start, hitting 4 of its first six 3-point attempts, while taking a 24-8 lead after 1 quarter.
Streamwood, however, refused to budge, outscoring the Warriors 19-7 in the second quarter to pull within 31-27 by halftime.
Senior Kaylee Angle spearheaded the Sabres' charge, as she knocked down three 3-pointers in the second quarter.
"Some teams just fold and the game's over - we don't," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "We stayed with our game plan. We kept saying on the bench, 'we're not hitting anything,' and then Kaylee gave us a lift off the bench.
"She picked us up and we got back in the game."
That momentum carried into the third quarter, as the Sabres outscored McHenry 15-7 to take a 4-point advantage into the final period, capped by Mandy Mien's 10-foot fadeaway at the buzzer.
When Peyton Hedger (7 points, 8 rebounds) connected on a 3-pointer from the corner, the Sabres still led 45-41 with 6 minutes left.
"It was exactly where I wanted to be," said Rosner. "Then we gave up two 3s that took that lead away."
"That whole third quarter, I felt like we were playing not to lose," said Niemic. "I think we just got back to what we talked about going into the game - treating every possession like game point.
"They put a scare into us and that's good. That's only going to make you better."
Mien, 1 of 5 seniors, added 9 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in her final game for the Sabres, while Vivian Sumoski had 9 points and 7 rebounds.
"These five seniors were incredible," Rosner said of Idalyd Ocampo, Vicki Kopko, Angle, Mien and Hedger. "It's one of the best groups of seniors I've had. It's a tough loss to lose them."