Belvidere scored 12 straight points to end the first half and went on to a 47-33 victory over Crystal Lake Central in the Woodstock Class AA girls sectional Thursday night.
Michelle Frailey and Rhonda Falley each scored four points in the run that gave Belvidere a 22-14 halftime lead. Belvidere advances to its own supersectional Monday.
Frailey led Belvidere (25-5) with 16 points. Chris Hoppenworth added 13. Becky Hicklin led Crystal Lake Central (20-8) with 13 points. Michelle Georgi had 10.
Belvidere led 37-30 then put the game away by scoring 10 of the next 11 points, seven coming on free throws.
”We`re going home,” said Belvidere coach Mark Frailey. ”When you go into the tournament, you`d like to get a chance at the regional. Then you want to get one game in the sectional. Then another. It never ends.”
Belvidere shot 40 percent (16 of 40) from the floor and held the Tigers to 34 percent (14 of 41) from the field.
Round Lake sectional-Melanie Proctor hit a free throw with 12.3 seconds left to give Waukegan (17-10) the sectional title with a 42-41 victory over Zion-Benton (19-9).
Zion led 32-28 entering the final period, but Waukegan`s Stephanie Hunter hit three straight jump shots to move Waukegan on top. Zion went back in front at 40-37 with 2:45 to go, but consecutive baskets by Waukegan`s Tamika Jones and Melody Proctor, Melanie`s twin sister, put Waukegan ahead 41-40 with 51.2 seconds to play.
Zion`s Julie Gryszkiewicz then hit a free throw to tie it before Melanie Proctor got a chance to play heroine.
”I was pretty nervous up there,” she said. ”I just thought about the situation for a second and tried to get the crowd out of my mind. To me, that`s the biggest shot I`ve ever hit.”
Zion, which missed a shot in the closing seconds, hit only 14 of 35 free throws. Ginger Matson led the losers with 14 points and Gryszkiewicz, a freshman, added 10.
”I think you could say we lost the game at the line,” said Zion coach Warren Nicholas.
Jones led Waukegan, which had eight players score, with nine points.