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Grls Basketball: Metea Valley turns back Kaneland rally
| Corey R. Minkanic~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 27, 2011 9:10PM
Having the ability to close out a game is vital.
Metea Valley’s girls basketball team had it Tuesday in the opening round of the Oswego East Winter Classic.
The Mustangs (5-7) went on a finishing 9-0 blitz to defeat stubborn Kaneland 62-46 in a game that became interesting right after halftime.
Metea Valley jumped to a 36-19 halftime lead and plans for today’s second-round game were beginning to form.
Only the Knights (8-3) wanted none of it. Bit by bit, they stormed back into the game. Kaneland outscored Metea Valley 20-8 in the third quarter and trailed by just seven (46-39) entering the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been battling one bad quarter a game and today it was the third quarter,” Metea Valley coach Kris Kalivas said. “I’ll take part of the blame. I was trying a little (defensive) experiment, and obviously it didn’t work.”
Ashley Prost scored eight of her team-high 14 points in leading Kaneland’s third-quarter run. The Knights eventually cut the Mustangs lead to five (50-45) on a 15-foot jump shot by Marina Schaefer.
They would get no closer.
Sparked by two offensive rebound baskets off missed free throws by Lori Obendorf (15 points), the Mustangs were able to kill Kaneland’s rally.
“We were happy with the effort the second half,” Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. “The game really came down to two things — we turned the ball over too much and second-chance shots. Take away the turnovers early, and it’s a different ballgame.”
Metea’s length inside with the 6-2 Obendorf, 6-2 Anna Petersen and 5-11 Amira Turner forced the Knights into bad entry passes the entire first half.
Guard Bria Walker led the Mustangs with 19 points, but Obendorf and Turner (12) were also in double figures.
Kaneland plays at 9 Wednesday morning in the consolation bracket while Metea Valley advances to the noon championship bracket contest.
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