High school girls basketball: Cary-Grove, Prairie Ridge open postseason with victories

CARY – First-half hot streaks from outside the 3-point arc aided Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge in victories to open postseason action Monday at the IHSA Class 4A Cary-Grove Regional.

Cary-Grove’s Bailey Steinkamp knocked down three 3s in the second quarter and helped No. 5-seeded C-G defeat No. 11 Jacobs, 62-33.

In the first game Monday, Prairie Ridge’s Maddy Ljunggren made all four of her 3-point attempts in the first half to push the Wolves to an early lead. No. 6 Prairie Ridge had to sweat it out, however, against No. 7 Crystal Lake South in a 36-32 victory.

“We lost some of our intensity defensively at the start of the second half,” Prairie Ridge coach Tim Taege said. “It’s easy to get fired up early in a regional game.”

South (7-22) had beaten Prairie Ridge (12-16) twice – both games in overtime – during the regular season. The third time worked in the Wolves’ favor. Ljunggren’s sharpshooting helped Prairie Ridge to an early 13-point advantage before the Gators rallied back, creating turnovers with their full-court press.

“It was just a tough hole to climb out of,” South coach Mark Mucha said. “Give their kids credit for jumping out to that lead early, making shots to set the tone. I’m proud of our kids, especially proud of our seniors and how they fought.”

Ljunggren led the way with her 12 points, while Alana Mocchi scored eight points and pulled in a game-high nine rebounds. Kyra Swartz led South with nine points. The Wolves advanced to face No. 1 Dundee-Crown at 6 p.m. Wednesday in regional semifinal action.

C-G (12-16) pulled ahead by nine at the end of the first quarter against Jacobs (4-25). Then Steinkamp drained three 3s to help extend the lead to 29 by halftime. The Trojans scored 25 points in the second quarter.

“Second quarter we definitely started hitting our 3s, which is very important in that situation, spreading out the zone,” Steinkamp said. “Once we get the ball in the post, we have time to kick it out for the 3.”

She scored 16 points, while Elsa Larry added 11 and Maddie Jannusch contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.

“[Steinkamp has] really come around, the last couple of weeks she’s really been hitting well from outside,” C-G coach Rod Saffert said. “She’s got a nice game driving to the hoop, too.”

Jacobs coach Jonny Reibel credited his team for fighting hard after halftime. The teams were even, 24-24, in the second half.

"They’ve got height, and they can shoot it, and they can probably push the ball better than any team we’ve faced all year," Reibel said of C-G.

The Trojans advanced to face No. 4 Crystal Lake Central at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winners of Wednesday’s semifinals square off in the Cary-Grove Regional final at 7 p.m. Thursday.

STAR OF THE GAME

Bailey Steinkamp, Cary-Grove, sr., G

Steinkamp scored 16 points, including three 3-pointers, for Cary-Grove in a 62-33 win over Jacobs on Monday at the IHSA Class 4A Cary-Grove Regional.

THE NUMBER

4: In Prairie Ridge's win over Crystal Lake South, Maddy Ljunggren shot 4 for 4 from 3-point range in the first half, propelling the Wolves to an early lead.

AND ANOTHER THING …

Prairie Ridge advanced to face Dundee-Crown at 6 p.m. Wednesday, while Cary-Grove will square off against Crystal Lake Central at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Prairie Ridge 36, Crystal Lake South 32

PR 12 13 3 8 – 36

CLS 5 12 8 7 – 32

PRAIRIE RIDGE (36): Statter 0 3-4 3, Ljunggren 4 0-0 12, Gablenz 2 1-3 5, Karlblom 2 1-2 5, Mocchi 4 0-0 8, Fisher 0 0-0 0, Kay 1 1-1 3. Totals: 13 6-10 36.

3-point goals: 4 (Ljunggren 4).

CRYSTAL LAKE SOUTH (32): Bush 2 0-0 5, Lawson 2 0-0 4, Schoen 0 0-0 0, Kuffel 1 1-2 3, Trier 1 0-0 2, Scharrenberg 1 1-2 3, Swartz 4 0-0 9, Sevcik 1 0-0 3, Rich 0 3-4 3. Totals: 12 5-8 32.

3-point goals: 3 (Bush 1, Swartz 1, Sevcik 1).

Cary-Grove 62, Jacobs 33

C-G 13 25 12 12 – 62

Jac 4 5 12 12 – 33

CARY-GROVE (62): Passaglia 2 4-6 8, Steinkamp 6 1-2 16, Jannusch 2 6-6 10, Tomasiewicz 1 0-0 2, Lukowski 2 0-0 4, Larry 4 0-0 11, Scheuer 1 0-0 2, Kurth 2 0-0 5, Howdeshell 0 4-6 4, Krupa 0 0-0 0, Csoka 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 15-20 62.

3-point goals: 7 (Steinkamp 3, Larry 3, Kurth 1).

JACOBS (33): Durben 1 0-0 3, Pahl 1 2-2 4, Valldejuli 0 2-2 2, Schwartz 4 2-3 10, Leitner 3 0-0 8, Cabusao 0 0-0 0, Fessler 0 0-0 0, Sibless 0 1-2 1, Slavich 0 0-1 0, Calcagno 1 0-0 2, Acevedo 0 0-0 0, Garden 1 1-1 3.

3-point goals: 3 (Leitner 2, Durben 1).