If girls basketball were a pattern, Friday night’s game between Lake Zurich and Dundee-Crown would look something like this:
Alicia Ratay’s three-pointer stops a Dundee-Crown rally.
Alicia Ratay’s three-pointer stops a Dundee-Crown rally.
Alicia Ratay’s three-poi . . . monotonous, isn’t it?
It must have seemed that way to Dundee-Crown coach Joe Komaromy, whose 13th-ranked Chargers fell at home 71-54 in the Fox Valley Conference game.
“She hit too many big threes,” said Komaromy of Ratay, the 5-foot-11-inch junior guard who wound up with 27 points. “I don’t know how many times we have to point out that you can’t leave her alone. She’s so good.”
No. 10 Lake Zurich ran its record to 4-0 (2-0 in conference) in just this first week of play. The Bears led virtually all the way in capturing their 30th consecutive league game.
Ratay poured in 16 first-half points and bagged four three-pointers in the game.
“We just came out ready to play today,” Ratay said. “It was a total team effort.”
She must have been looking at the statistical sheet. Anne Tierney, the 6-0 junior forward, wound up with 16 points and 11 rebounds. And junior guard Meghan Kolze (“She was aggressive, she hit some big shots and had a couple of steals,” coach Carl Krause said) scored 14.
Ratay is well-schooled not only in basketball, but also in giving her teammates credit. So it’s up to Kolze, a coach’s daughter, to sing her praises.
“She’s just incredible. She knows the game so well,” said Kolze, whose father Mike coaches the Highland Park boys. “You’ll pick up your dribble, and she’ll make a cut and be open.”
And then Kolze reminded everyone why she, Ratay, Tierney and their Lake Zurich teammates are out there in their crisp blue uniforms on a night they could be watching “Starship Troopers.”
“She’s fun to play with.”
Fun for the Bears, not so much fun for the host team, which fell to 2-1, 1-1.
“We didn’t come out tough enough,” Komaromy said. “We got ourselves in too much of a rut. I want to commend our kids for cutting it to seven (55-48 on a Billee Russell turnaround jumper). But I am disappointed.”
Lake Zurich took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Chargers 14-6 for a 33-18 halftime lead. Ratay and Tierney combined for 27 of those points.
Russell, the 6-0 Northwestern-bound senior, struggled in the first half but finished with 18 points. Senior Kelley Storm led Dundee-Crown with 19.
