Round Lake pulls off a 'Major' win over Grayslake North
Taylor Major is glad to be back and joining the chemistry on Round Lake's girls basketball team. The senior has been through a couple of injuries over the last few years and is healthy starting this season.
Major contributed in a big way with 13 points and 5 rebounds as Round Lake ran past host Grayslake North 46-14 in a Northern Lake County game on Friday night.
The injuries started for Major in the offseason between her freshman and sophomore years. She had ACL surgery before coming back to play the last 10 games as a sophomore.
Then, during the COVID season, Major bruised her knee and only played in 3 games her junior year.
"Just three or four months ago, I wouldn't have thought about it," Major said. "It was an intense amount of pain. It felt worse than when I tore my ACL. I'm back and feeling really good about myself."
The best thing for Major is getting together with her teammates and having chemistry on the court.
"It's really good this year," Major said. "We have a lot of players and we can take it to our advantage. I feel good about this team and the way we communicate. We're like a real family and we hold each other accountable for everything."
Lilli Burton added a game-high 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals and Amari Cole chipped in with 11 points and had 12 of her 14 rebounds in the first half for the Panthers.
"It's something that I have been getting better on," said Cole about her rebounds. "It creates a whole different shift in the game on the rebounding. One of the things that the team counts on me and it's something to focus on."
Round Lake (7-2, 2-1) has played very well opening the season and it could be a contender in the NLCC race down the road.
"The first half was probably the best basketball we've played so far," Round Lake coach Molly Hennig said. "The girls are working hard to reach their goal competing in every game and coming out strong."
he Panthers jumped out to a 29-0 lead on Grayslake North (3-6, 0-3) before the Knights scored a point late in the second quarter. Round Lake led 32-1 at halftime and never looked back.
Peyton Gerdes led the Knights with 7 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"We have to look at this as a lesson, because we kind of had that look in our eyes (Thursday) that we were a little bit emotionally drained," Grayslake North coach Roger Lass said. "Maybe because of studies and that kind of things. It's a lesson for us to overcome and to get yourself fired up for a game. You have to be mentally prepared. Round Lake did a great job and their well-coached. It's something that we've got to put behind us and move on to the next one."