Little did Jenny Samuelson realize how big her first points of Saturday’s game against No. 4 Sandburg would be. New Trier’s sophomore point guard went scoreless in the first half and knew something was amiss.
“I couldn’t make a shot,” Samuelson said. “Before the game I was practicing it and knew I could shoot and make it.”
When she did finally connect, it couldn’t have come at a better time for the No. 7 Trevians. They were trailing the visiting Eagles by 11 points in the middle of the third quarter when Samuelson stuck a three-pointer.
That started a 17-1 New Trier run and led to a 66-55 victory in the Sweet 16 tournament. Samuelson said she was fumbling the ball in the first half and looking for an option other than herself. But she finished with eight points, two steals and two assists in helping the Trevians (18-4) win their seventh in a row.
“She’s a spot-up shooter, and sometimes she makes them, sometimes she doesn’t,” New Trier coach Teri Rodgers said. “But what never wavers is her defense. Her on-the-ball defense is great.”
Friday, the coach noted, Samuelson put the clamps on Maine South sophomore Ashley Tomzik. After scoring six points, Tomzik was held to only two more by Samuelson in New Trier’s 64-55 victory.
New Trier’s zone defense, as Sandburg’s Jacqie Storm pointed out, had something to do with this result. Storm scored 14 points in the first half as the Eagles (20-3) took a 32-28 lead against a man-to-man.
But she managed only three more, and Sandburg was limited to three field goals in the final 12 minutes against the Trevians’ zone.
Offense, of course, also had something to do with this victory. Deirdre Naughton scored 23 points, just shy of her season average of 23.7. Six of those came in the 17-1 run that ended the third quarter and gave New Trier a 49-44 lead.
“That was one of the best end-of-the-third-quarter runs I’ve ever seen,” Rodgers said.
Amy Jaeschke added 17 points, and Sarah Harrison came off the bench to score 10 with three steals. Besides Storm’s 17, Erin Cattell scored 11 with 12 rebounds and three steals, and Melinda Queen had 10 for the Eagles.
