CHICAGO – There were few moments during the second half of Saturday’s matchup between Palatine (Ill.) Fremd and state powerhouse Marian Catholic in which the former appeared in good position to win the game.
Trailing nearly the entire game, Fremd was nine points down to the Illinois Class 4A defending state champions with less than 2 ½ minutes to play in the ChiTown Showdown.
No matter. In a stunning reversal, the Vikings used a game-ending 12-2 run for a 63-62 victory at Whitney Young High School.
“I’m going to be honest with you,” Fremd coach Dave Yates said. “I feel like we just stole one.”
It’s hard to argue with Yates’ assessment. Marian Catholic (6-2), the top-ranked team in Chicagoland by the Chicago Tribune, used its wealth of talent and a balanced attack to bedevil the Vikings from all angles. Junior guard ranked #20 by Blue Star – Teniya Page (team-high 14 points), when she wasn’t slashing into the lane, sank two three-pointers. The 5-foot-10 forward Dajhae Mullins (12 points) was a force inside, along with lanky 6-foot junior Kauai Bradley (11 points). DePaul signee ranked #183 by Blue Star – Ashton Millender scored 11 points from the perimeter.
Coach Dan Murray’s squad appeared to be cruising, building a 60-51 lead at the 2:24 mark of the fourth quarter. But the Spartans, who had won a game in the Oswego Tournament earlier in the day, couldn’t finish it off.
“It’s easy to play when it’s eight, nine points (in margin),” Yates said. “But when it gets to be a couple possessions, then that pressure affects that other team. All we wanted to do was get it down to a couple possessions.”
The Vikings relied on junior guard Haley Gorecki for that. That nine-point margin quickly became three when Gorecki converted back-to-back three-point plays. Fremd still trailed 62-61 when Bryana Hopkins stole a pass near midcourt and fed Goricki, who made the layup for a one-point lead with 22 seconds to play.
“It was a great pass by Bryana Hopkins, and I made the layup,” Gorecki said. “It was a whole team effort.”
But Gorecki, rated 58th on Blue Star’s Class of 2015 list, had the biggest hand. She scored 23 points and added four steals.
“I think our main focus was to just keep playing, and (to think) ‘we’ve got this.’ We stuck with it,” Gorecki said.
The Vikings’ point guard, Brianna Lewis, scored 13 points. The sophomore showed no fear as she repeatedly penetrated into the lane for several short jumpers. Hopkins, a sophomore forward and Fremd’s top frontline player, added 10 points.
“We told the kids it was a statement game,” Yates said.
Other ChiTown Showdown highlights:
–College coaches turned out despite snowy conditions in the region. More than 25 registered, including head coaches from DePaul, Iowa State and Illinois. They witnessed no fewer than 12 Division I-bound seniors, and at least another dozen younger players likely headed for a similar level.
The freshman class was particularly well-represented. Christ the King freshman Destiny Harden is a 5-foot-11 guard/small forward who could land on Top 200 lists for her class after another strong showing, scoring 15 points in her team’s 79-33 victory against Hyde Park. Harden is expected to play for the Mac Irvin Fire program in the summer of 2014.
Joliet Catholic freshmen Ty Battle and Jnaya Walker (Top 100 list potential) also flashed potential in their team’s 55-39 win against North Lawndale.
Battle is the daughter of former University of Illinois star Kenny Battle and carries a similar build on her 6-foot frame. She had nine points for the talent-rich Angels.
“If she hits the weights a little bit that’s going to help her out a lot,” said Joliet Catholic coach Ed Schodrof, whose staff includes Kenny Battle. “She’s got a nice frame, she’s an outstanding passer for her age and she knows the game well. She’s got a real good court sense and is very poised. She’s probably a little too unselfish. She needs to look to score a little more at this point but she’s had a solid start to the season.”
Walker, a 6-foot forward, had four points. Like Battle, she figures to grace the Class of 2017 lists in coming years.
Guard Nicole Ekhomu, one of the top sophomores in the country (Blue Star ranked #39), had 13 points to lead Joliet Catholic (7-0). Ekhomu continues to play with a plastic face mask to protect a broken nose suffered during USA Basketball tryouts in May. Senior Jasmine Lumpkin (Blue Star ranked #61), a Michigan State signee, scored nine during a difficult shooting night to go with 11 rebounds.
–Chicago’s Whitney Young provided another glimpse why it might be the best team in Illinois.
The Dolphins blitzed Champaign St. Thomas More 73-43 with a second-half flurry that left the Sabers dazed. It continued a streak of strong play to open the season for the 6-0 Dolphins, who have beaten the Class 4A runner-up from 2013, Rolling Meadows, and the Class 4A fourth-place team, Huntley. St. Thomas More finished second in Class 2A last season and features U.S. U16 National Team player Tori McCoy.
“We’ve only been playing for a week, really,” said Young coach Corry Irvin, whose team placed third in Class 4A last March. “They’re all starting to buy into the system and learn how to play together. I think we’re going in the right direction.”
Look for the Dolphins (6-0) to return to the state tournament, perhaps as the favorite this time. All five starters are offensive threats. Center Khaalia Hillsman (Blue Star ranked #111), a Texas A&M signee, had 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in her showdown against McCoy in the lane. Junior Tanita Allen (5-10) was effective inside, too, collecting 18 points and nine rebounds (Blue Star ranked #156). Junior guard Madinah Muhammed continued to show off her improved perimeter shooting, scoring 13 points. Sophomore point guard Kiara Lewis (Blue Star ranked #25), who sat out her freshman season because of a knee injury, had eight points while battling first-half foul trouble. And SMU signee Taylor Brame added five.
St. Thomas More (10-2) trailed by two points early in the third quarter despite McCoy’s foul trouble. She sat out a good chunk of the first half with two fouls as the Sabers fell behind by 14. But coach Chris Mennig re-inserted her into the lineup and STM rebounded to get within four points by halftime despite McCoy’s third foul.
The second half was a different story. Young used a 22-5 run to end the third period.
“Our intensity on defense (was better) in the second half and Kiara wasn’t in foul trouble,” Irvin said. “And I thought in the first half we just made bad decisions on offense; in the second half we shared the ball a lot better.
Saturday’s result was in contrast to the teams’ matchup last winter, when STM led Young by two points entering the fourth quarter before falling 60-51.
“We knew we weren’t going to sneak up on them like we did last year,” STM coach Chris Mennig said. “But also I think my kids, because they were so close last year, I don’t know if they took them as seriously this time. The egg that we laid in the third quarter, there’s nothing to be proud of there at all. I said to them, ‘You can’t simulate this. This is something harder than you’ll face all the way through the 2A playoffs.’ I’m not crazy, I know getting a ‘W’ up here is a tall order. I’m just disappointed. It shouldn’t have finished out the way it did.”
McCoy had 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2:40 remaining. Liz Bristow had 12 points and Lexi Wallen 11.
–Rolling Meadows returns five starters from the team that lost to Marian Catholic 48-47 in the Class 4A state title game a year ago. On Saturday, they faced a Milwaukee Riverside squad that claimed the Division I state title in Wisconsin last winter.
It was no contest. Rolling Meadows raced to a 29-7 lead after one period en route to an 84-33 victory.
St. Louis recruits Jackie Kemph (Blue Star ranked #102) (27 points) and Jenny Vliet (Blue Star ranked #260) (18 points, 11 rebounds) led the Mustangs. Northwestern signee ranked #253 by Blue Star, Alexis Glasgow added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Pittsburgh recruit Aysia Bugg (Blue Star ranked #166) had 25 points, five steals and five assists as Bolingbrook beat Crete-Monee 59-53. Trinity (10-0) defeated Vernon Hills 61-31 behind 17 points from guard Annie McKenna. Teammate and DePaul recruit Lauren Prochaska scored 13.
