SC North lets one get away
CARPENTERSVILLE -- As St. Charles North coach Katie Sauber-Duraski put it, the North Stars had Monday night's semifinal game at the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic, "all tied up in a bag and ready to go home."
That was until a monumental fourth-quarter collapse in which the North Stars turned the ball over 11 times and turned a nine-point lead into a 50-42 defeat.
As a result, the North Stars will have to settle for playing in the third-place game against Mother McAuley tonight instead of getting a shot at Fenwick.
"We cracked under pressure," said Sauber-Duraski. "They pressured and we couldn't handle it. It's really not that uncharacteristic of us right now. We don't handle the pressure very well. Other teams know it, and until we learn how to handle it, they'll continue to press us."
North had an 18-13 lead at halftime.
Kelsey Smith, who was battling the flu, got off to a slow start for North with just two first-half points. But she got on track after the break to finish with a team-high 14 points. Smith had six points in the third quarter as North built a 33-24 advantage.
Turnovers on five consecutive possessions by North early in the fourth quarter led to a 10-1 New Trier run, which tied the game at 34. The Trevians later pulled ahead 40-39 on a layup off a turnover with 2:35 left to play.
New Trier finished the game on a 12-3 run and outscored North 26-9 in the final period.
Kiley Hackbarth added 13 points for North.
Four-time defending tournament champion Fenwick defeated Mother McAuley 65-48 to advance to the finals.
Tricia Liston scored 29 points for the Friars (11-2) and former St. Edward star Katlyn Payne added 18 points for Fenwick.
Johnsburg 69, Bartlett 66 -- Sophomore star Jacki Gulczynski scored 22 points and made five steals, but the Hawks (6-6) came up short.
Bartlett, which led 40-31 at halftime, will play in the seventh-place game at 3:30 today against Buffalo Grove.
The Hawks were limited to just 10 points in the third quarter as Gulczynski was blanked. Still, they held a 50-48 advantage entering the final period.
But the Skyhawks prevailed, getting 26 points from sophomore guard Melissa Dixon, who made three of her team's six 3-pointers. Dixon scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Freshmen Kristin Conniff and Ashley Santos scored 10 points apiece for Bartlett, which slipped to 1-2 in the tournament.
Regina Dominican 62, Dundee-Crown 39 -- The host Chargers (2-12) were led by Alex Lococo (11 points) and Melissa Summaria (10 points) in a losers' bracket defeat.
D-C, which will play Maine West at 9:30 a.m. today in the 15th-place game, was outscored 16-8 in the second quarter and trailed 27-14 at halftime.
