Girls basketball: Crystal Lake Central, Marian Central reach Northern Illinois Holiday Classic final

McHENRY – Marian Central was held without a field goal in the first quarter against DeKalb, but showed no panic.

The Hurricanes also played suffocating defense against the Barbs, who were held scoreless for the first seven minutes.

Marian’s offense got rolling in the second quarter, and the Hurricanes went on to defeat the Barbs 43-22 and advance to the championship game of the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic.

Marian (12-2) will next face Crystal Lake Central (7-7), a 60-36 winner against Belvidere in the first semifinal, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

DeKalb (5-8) and Belvidere (9-6) will play for third place at 5 p.m.

Senior guard Madison Kenyon and junior point guard Abbey Miner led Marian with 12 points each, with Kenyon adding 10 rebounds and Miner three steals. Juliette Huff added six points, and Ella Notaro and Lucy Iden tossed in five points apiece.

“It’s exciting to make the final,” Miner said. “We’ve been working towards it, and it’s really nice that we were able to get there. I know we’ll do good. Our defense has always been a strong point for us, that’s our big thing.

“We were able to get out and run and finish against contact.”

Miner helped get the Hurricanes’ offense on track in the second quarter with a steal on DeKalb’s first possession, which led to a bucket by Huff.

The Hurricanes held DeKalb to 3-of-23 shooting in the first half and outscored the Barbs 15-4 in the second quarter to grab a 17-6 lead at halftime.

Marian then scored the first 14 points of the third quarter for a 31-6 lead. Kenyon poured in six of her team-high 12 points in the second quarter, while Miner had eight of her 12. Marian outscored DeKalb 21-4 in the third quarter.

Marian has won 12 of its past 13 games after a season-opening loss to Cary-Grove.

“I’m just excited and happy for the girls,” Hurricanes coach Lee Brown said. “They’ve worked hard and they’ve been playing good basketball. Our defense has really been getting after it ... getting those big stops and transition buckets. Defense has been the catalyst for us all year.”

“Holding any team to six points (in a half) kind of speaks volumes to our defense. I always tell the girls, defense will give us a chance.”

Cayla Evans led DeKalb with nine points and seven rebounds, and Ella Medina tossed in five points.

DeKalb coach Brad Bjelk felt the Barbs matched Marian’s physicality early on.

“It was good defensive battle,” Bjelk said. “I feel like it was two evenly matched teams. Each team was locked in defensively. Tonight we struggled on offense, but we had a great start to the tournament. With every game, we just have to bounce back. We have a good opportunity to play for third place against a good Belvidere team.”

In the first semifinal, Crystal Lake Central grabbed a 34-13 lead by halftime, led by 13 first-half points from junior forward Leah Spychala (seven rebounds). Senior guard Katie Hamill scored 19 of her game-high 29 points after halftime, also finishing with 12 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Ruby Macke had eight points and five rebounds, and Ella Madalinski added five points.

Crystal Lake Central worked to get the ball to Spychala, the Tigers’ tallest player at 6-foot-1, early on.

“We were looking to give to to (Spychala) early in the post,” Central coach Derek Crabill said. “Leah worked really hard down there, gave herself good position and gave her teammates openings to get her the ball, so that was really nice to see.

“We’ve been preaching discipline, and I think tonight that was on display more than maybe in earlier weeks.”

Hamill is excited for the opportunity of hoisting a trophy before Christmas.

“I’m just excited because it’s the last game before Christmas,” Hamill said. “We’re very excited for the opportunity. I just love this team so much. I have faith that we can do it.”