The highly anticipated matchup between No. 1 Marian Catholic and No. 9 Hillcrest was almost thwarted by upset-minded Homewood-Flossmoor at the Class AA Thornridge sectional semifinals Tuesday night.
The outcome was in doubt until the final two minutes when Hillcrest went on a 10-0 run to capture a 51-41 victory over pesky Homewood-Flossmoor.
Hillcrest (24-2) was down 24-18 at the half as star guard Janelle Hughes scored only four points.
Hughes was the catalyst in the Hawks’ comeback as she scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half. Sophomore Yinka Sanni had 18 points, 13 rebounds and three steals to lead the Vikings (18-11).
On the flip side, Marian Catholic had little trouble with Andrew as the Spartans cruised to a 54-35 victory. The sectional final will be a rematch of the Hillcrest Christmas tournament championship game in which the Spartans (27-1) needed a last-second shot by Mary Basic to take care of the Hawks.
“We know they are much better now than they were then,” Marian Catholic coach Shannon Reidy said. “We feel confident as we always do, but we know how good they are.”
Marian used a 10-0 run in the second quarter to break open a tight game.
The Spartans, however, might be without point guard Missy Mitidiero. Mitidiero, who had 10 points, sat out most of the second half after twisting her ankle early in the third quarter.
Basic picked up the slack offensively for Marian in the second half as she scored 14 of her 20 points.
Dawn VanderMeer led Andrew (16-12) with 16 points.
Bill Harrison.
Elgin: Lauren Weber hit two free throws in the last 38 seconds to secure the victory as No. 12 St. Viator downed Prospect 51-46. Weber finished with 20 points for the Lions (25-4) and Justine Mullen added 11 while Cori Klues grabbed 10 rebounds. Molly May and Gabrielle Cottrell each scored 15 for Prospect (20-9).
Benet: No. 13 Benet started the game on a 19-2 run on its way to a 57-35 victory over Naperville North. Jordan Wilson and Amy Hunckler scored 14 points and 13 points, respectively, for Benet (23-8). Rae Sauerman led Naperville North (16-15) with eight points.
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Plainfield: No. 17 Neuqua Valley jumped out to an 11-5 lead and never trailed in its 54-45 win over Plainfield. Sophomore Lindsay Wisdom netted 16 points and collected 15 rebounds, four blocks, five steals and five assists for Neuqua (27-5).
“Plainfield didn’t win 24 games for nothing,” Neuqua coach Mike Williams said. “They played tough so we had to play our best game. We survived.”
Jessica Jones and Karly Chesko each added 11 points for Neuqua Valley while Karin Olson led Plainfield (24-7) with 14 points and nine rebounds.
DeKalb: Sterling defeated Geneseo 53-42 as Amee Binder scored 17 points.
Eisenhower: Amy Harmening scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Jena Zientek added 10 points and 11 rebounds as Mother McAuley (22-10) held off GCAC Red rival St. Ignatius 63-54. The Mighty Macs built a 52-41 lead with 5 minutes left, but St. Ignatius went on a 10-4 run to pull within 56-51. St. Ignatius’ Margaret Gilmartin, who led all scorers with 24 points, fouled out with 39 seconds left and McAuley hit 7-of-8 free throws from there to seal the victory.
McAuley shot 38-of-47 from the line for the game, while St. Ignatius (20-12) was just 10-of-17.
“It was either a matter of chance or mathematics,” Mother McAuley coach Rick Mundo said. “We’re usually the team who has less free throws every game. Our game plan was to be very aggressive because we have lots of bodies to use. We’re pretty deep on our bench.”
Lake Zurich: Kayla Ming led four players in double figures with 22 points and grabbed five rebounds for Grayslake as it advanced with a 62-51 win over Mundelein. Ming scored 11 in the second quarter alone as Grayslake (23-8) shot 10-of-12 from the field to take a 39-26 halftime lead.
Mundelein cut the lead to 49-47 with 3:50 left to play, but Ming’s rebound off a missed free throw with 2:29 remaining led to a layup by Grayslake’s Tiffany Lehner. Mundelein never got closer than four the rest of the way.
“We knew we couldn’t look past Mundelein,” Ming said. “We came out sluggish in the first quarter. We struggled on the boards, but we got the key rebounds when we needed them to help seal the victory.”
Ashley Stein led Mundelein (22-11) with 16 points and seven rebounds.
McHenry: Rockton Hononegah held Dundee-Crown scoreless for nearly four minutes in the fourth quarter and outscored the Chargers 7-0 during that span on its way to a 49-46 win. Dundee-Crown had rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to take its first and only lead of the game at 42-41 with 5:06 remaining when Hononegah’s defense took over.
“[Dundee-Crown] had stretches where they hadn’t scored for three or four minutes,” Hononegah coach Randy Weibel said. “I thought tonight our defensive intensity was much better. We played hard for four quarters, which is something we haven’t done lately.”
Ashley Wirth led Hononegah (25-7) with 12 points on four three-pointers. Heather Ozarka had 11 points for Dundee-Crown (19-10).
Rockford Boylan outscored Cary-Grove 24-6 in the second quarter en route to a 58-42 victory. Kristin Kolar’s 18 points and Mary Moskal’s 16 led Rockford Boylan (27-3). Amy Kaplan had 15 points for Cary-Grove (25-5).