At 6 feet 2 inches and bound for Illinois on a basketball scholarship, Maine West’s Dawn Vana is expected to deliver scoring and rebounds.
Less well known is her passing ability, which was the reason the third-ranked Warriors were able to overcome No. 7 Sandburg 38-36 in the Great Eight tournament Friday night at Lyons Township.
Vana’s fourth assist found Heather Fitzgerald under the basket for the winning points with 56 seconds left. Just 11 seconds earlier, Sandburg’s Sarah Kustok had nailed a three-pointer to tie the game.
“They’re a heck of a team,” Maine West coach Derril Kipp said. “They controlled the tempo of the game. That’s something we normally do.”
Vana finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for Maine West (23-2).
Sophomore Julie Just added 10 points and Fitzgerald eight. Junior Tracy Hoffman had 13 and senior Lola Dada 11 for Sandburg.
“It showed we could play with one of the top teams in the state,” said Sandburg coach Gary Bonk, whose team fell to 21-3. “We held them in the 30s–that’s quite an accomplishment.”
The tournament concludes Saturday with eight games at Mother McAuley.
Buffalo Grove 53, Mother McAuley 45: No. 19 Mother McAuley was slicing through No. 18 Buffalo Grove, taking a 42-32 lead with 2 minutes left in the third quarter at Maine East. But Buffalo Grove stopped the bleeding with a stingy 1-3-1 zone that allowed three points the rest of the way.
“We didn’t take care of the basketball, and we weren’t taking the ball to the basket with authority for most of the game,” said Buffalo Grove coach Tom Dineen, whose team committed 17 turnovers through three quarters. “But we switched to a four-guard lineup and we got some hands in Mother McAuley’s faces.”
Buffalo Grove (19-5) put the clamps on the Mighty Macs defensively and roared to a 13-0 run that began with a free throw by Allison Guth (eight points) in the third and ended on a layup by Christy Compobasso (12 points) in the fourth. That surge put the Bison up 45-42.
Mother McAuley (15-8) missed on 12 field-goal tries in the key fourth quarter and managed just three free throws by Beth Dilling (10 points).
“We just threw the ball away in the fourth, and we proceeded to self-destruct,” McAuley coach Barbara Edwards said.
Kendra Ryl, who had 12 points, led the Bison with 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Stevenson 75, Maine East 49: Stephy Sulentic paced Stevenson (13-10) with 11 points as all 14 Patriots scored at least one field goal. Nicole Haslett led the Blue Demons (3-22) with 11 points.
