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Girls Basketball: Grayslake Central falls to Cary-Grove
Updated: February 9, 2012 9:38PM
Grayslake Central’s girls basketball team rode the roller-coaster against Cary-Grove in Thursday’s battle of Fox Valley Conference division champions.
And after a series of ups and downs, highs and lows, the host Rams from the Fox Division wound up down four points — a 58-54 loser to the winners of the FVC’s Valley Division.
Grayslake (23-5) led by 10 points in the third quarter, got outscored 24-9 to fall behind 46-41 with 30 seconds left, then rallied to force overtime, only to falter in the extra four minutes.
“That was a great game to get us ready for the postseason,” said Steve Ikenn, whose Rams will play in the Class 3A tourney while C-G is a Class 4A club.
“I wasn’t happy with our turnovers, but we showed an unbelievable amount of heart, down five with 30 seconds left, to send it to overtime.”
Down 46-41, Claire Brennan made two free throws with 28 seconds left. The Rams then forced a turnover and Skyler Jessop (game-high 27 points) scored on an inbounds play to make it 46-45.
After another Cary turnover with 12 seconds left, Grayslake shot for the win, and Jessop was fouled with six seconds left. She missed the first and made the second to tie it.
Cary got a very good look for the win, but missed.
In overtime, the Rams’ last lead was 48-47. Alyssa Lee then bombed home a three with 2:53 to play to put the Trojans ahead for good.
“You want to play a team like this right before the playoffs,” Ikenn said. “It was a nice physical game. It showed us we have to be more physical and handle the ball better.”
Jessop liked the atmosphere of playing in what amounted to a conference title game.
“This was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played in,” she said. “It felt like a playoff game. Our student section got into it. Both teams made big plays. It was intense.”
Grayslake begins regional play on Wednesday at Wauconda.
Cary-Grove (18-8) begins regional play Wednesday at Prairie Ridge.
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