Girls Basketball: Caroline Kelty paces Oak Park-River Forest to win

With Oak Park-River Forest star Stekara Hall feeling under the weather, Huskies junior Caroline Kelty decided it was the perfect opportunity to step up and take charge.

She couldn’t have picked a better time, as she poured in a career-high 28 points to lead Oak Park to a 63-57 win over host Downers Grove North Saturday in a West Suburban Silver matchup.

“We had a good practice yesterday and a lot of time to warm up today, and I felt good. I know Stekara wasn’t feeling that well, so I wanted to take on more of the scoring load,” Kelty said. “I had a good game here last year as a sophomore with 20 points, so I was comfortable in this gym and was ready to play.”

The Huskies (2-8, 2-2) led the entire way, but couldn’t shake the pesky Trojans (2-8, 0-3), taking a six-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Kelty helped maintain that advantage most of the second half, thanks to 10 points in the fourth quarter. That included a three-pointer that put the Huskies ahead 53-45 and an old-fashioned three-point play the next time down the court after a Trojans’ basket to increase the cushion to 56-47.

Downers North drew to within four points at 59-55 late in the fourth quarter, but Kelty put back a missed free throw to widen the spread to 62-55 with 14 seconds left.

“Offensively, we moved and shared the ball really well today,” Oak Park coach Bob Biggins said. “We finally ran the offense we’ve been talking about all year. The girls attacked the basket aggressively, and when they got the ball inside and got doubled up, they kicked the ball out and people knocked shots down, particularly in the first half when Biz Mullins (12 points) hit four threes.”

Biggins said he was impressed with the way Kelty took charge on the court on both offense and defense.

“She had a tremendous game, she is just a ball of energy,” Biggins said. “She was really aggressive offensively, which is something we’ve been trying to get her to do. She really picked up for Stekara (Hall, seven points), who has been fighting the flu and wasn’t at full strength. Caroline is just a joy to watch. She also played very heady defense and had a key steal toward the end of the game. She’s kind of a free-wheeling player, and she played her best game today.”

Jasmine Walker chipped in eight points for the Huskies, while the Trojans were led by Mary Echemann with 14 points along with eight from Izzy Greenblatt and six each by Mary Bedalov and Frannie Jones.

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