Girls basketball: Kaneland overcomes injury scare to beat Prairie Ridge

BURLINGTON – Kaneland had plenty of reasons to fold against Prairie Ridge on Friday after a scary ending to the first half and a slow start to the second.

In the last 10 seconds of the second quarter, Kaneland senior point guard Lexi Schueler raced down the court and dived for a loose ball under Prairie Ridge’s basket.

Prairie Ridge senior guard Ali Storz ran step for step with her and, as the two went for the ball, fell directly on top of Schueler, whose face smacked hard off the court. Schueler, who suffered a nose injury and was bleeding, was able to walk off after a delay.

To start the third quarter, Prairie Ridge turned around a two-point deficit at halftime with a 9-0 run in the first 90 seconds, grabbing the largest lead of the game for either team and looking to pull away for good.

But the Knights had other ideas.

Kaneland held Prairie Ridge to six points over the last 13 minutes and rallied for a 32-28 win at Burlington Central’s Mark Einwich Rockets Kick-Off Tournament.

Kaneland second-year coach Brian Claesson was proud of his players for meeting the challenge head on.

“I told the girls that’s the most proud I’ve been of the team,” Claesson said. “Our leader, Lexi Schueler, dives for a ball right right before half, and I think it’s a broken nose. Blood everywhere. It would have been easy for the girls to say, ‘We’re not going to come back from this.’

“We had a bunch of girls step up. A couple underclassmen, (sophomore) Kyra Lilly and (freshman) Amani Meeks, got thrown in there for more minutes than they’re used to and step up and rise to the challenge. It was a true team effort.”

Junior guard Kendra Brown led the Knights (2-1) with a game-high 19 points and three 3-pointers. Her last 3 of the game at the top of the key gave Kaneland a 31-28 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

“My shoulder has been hurting and my shot has been a little off, so having that feeling of helping the team win is really nice to have,” Brown said. “Being able to help the team get up and the crowd going helped a lot.”

The Knights went into half worried about the health of their point guard, but found a way to rally.

Junior guard Sam Kerry tossed in nine points for Kaneland, and Meeks had four steals.

“We felt a little scared,” Brown said. “We lost our main ball handler, so we knew we had to have some other people step up. Amani and Kyra both stepped up to handle the ball, and they played great defense. We just had to play our game and stay patient on offense.”

For Prairie Ridge (1-2), junior forward Addie Meyer had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and senior guard Addison Taege chipped in nine points and two 3s. Storz had eight points and four steals.

Taege hit a 3 and made a steal and layup to help fuel the Wolves’ 9-0 run to start the second half and take a 21-14 lead.

“The girls on the bench are a big part of that, they hype us up really well,” Taege said. “It was good to have that energy again. We came out at halftime talking about trying to get a good start. That’s what we got, but then we let [Kaneland] go on another run.”

Prairie Ridge coach Tim Taege, Addison’s dad, said the Wolves have struggled on offense to start the season. But their effort has been top notch.

“Offensively, we’re struggling with the ball in our hands, so seeing the ball go in the hole is that magical cure,” Tim Taege said. “But I’m super proud of how hard our kids played. Storz was all over the place, Zoe [Nanos] was all over the place and really flying all over that floor.

“We’ve never had to coach effort. The program has been doing a good job of just battling and playing hard. We may not have the talent as some of the teams on our schedule, but we’re going to compete.”

Claesson said plays such as the one Schueler made at the end of the first half are a great example of what he’s hoping to build at Kaneland.

“I think the girls seeing her dive like that, that’s kind of what our culture wants to be,” Claesson said. “Hopefully she’s not out too long.”