Cary-Grove slows down McHenry
With two of Cary-Grove's top scorers unavailable Friday, Trojans senior guard Avery Nielsen looked to get involved right away.
Nielsen attacked the basket early, scoring all 10 of her points in the first quarter. Three times, she drew a foul.
"Avery's never scared. She's not scared of anything," Trojans coach Tony Moretti said. "She's a tough kid and we'd be lost without her."
Nielsen was one of three Trojans players to score in double figures Friday as C-G beat McHenry, 47-31, in their Fox Valley Conference game at Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
Although Nielsen finished third on her team in scoring, it was her aggressive drives and mindset that really got the Trojans going.
"[Moretti] told me, 'You can take them,' and at first I didn't know," Nielsen said. "But the shots kept coming and they were falling tonight. It was a really good feeling. I could tell the atmosphere just changed right away.
"We were all cheering for each other. Everyone started to take their shots and everyone was making it."
Moretti was proud of Nielsen for stepping up.
"Senior leadership right there," Moretti said. "She got us going and we just had an energy about us tonight. We had our two of our best days of practice the last two days, and it showed with how hard they played. They care a lot."
The Trojans (5-4, 2-2 FVC) were without seniors Emily Lukowski and Lilliana Kurth. Lukowski, who averaged 15 points a game as a junior, was not available Friday, while Kurth suffered an injury early in the week, Moretti said.
Joining Nielsen in double figures were senior Maddie Scharrenberg with 12 points and sophomore guard Emily Larry with 11. Larry had three of her team's four 3s. Also stepping up was freshman guard Sam Skerl, who had nine points and a 3.
The Trojans led, 16-12, after the first and extended their lead to 25-17 at half. They started the second half on a 9-3 run, with Annika Nordin, Skerl, Larry and Scharrenberg all making shots. C-G led, 37-26, after the third and held the Warriors to only five points the rest of the way.
"Sam Skerl and Emily Larry both knocked down big shots when we needed them, and they were ready to play tonight," Moretti said. "I think one of our issues of late was us not being ready and struggling at the beginning of games. Those youngsters really did their jobs. They worked hard tonight."
The Warriors (2-6, 0-4) were led by junior forward Maddi Friedle with 12 points and two 3s. Ana Gerstung chipped in seven points and also made two 3s, and Alyssa Franklin added four points and eight rebounds.
McHenry coach Rob Niemic was happy to see his team make better decisions with the ball Friday, but finding consistent scoring has remained a problem.
"They [C-G] scored pretty much 10 a quarter. We were single digits [in the second, third and fourth quarters]," Niemic said. "That's the difference right there. We need to put in a lot more work. Scorers aren't made in one practice."
Nielsen hopes Friday's win can be a turning point for the Trojans.
"It's been hard without [Lukowski and Kurth], but we're really adapting and we're playing together," Nielsen said. "We're all stepping up, which is really good. Now we can see what we can do as a team, and hopefully we're going to be able to really start beating these teams."