Ellie Mjaanes, Cary-Grove rally late to edge Rolling Meadows

ROLLING MEADOWS – Host Rolling Meadows and Cary-Grove both wanted to start off the new year on the right foot when they met in nonconference girls basketball action Saturday afternoon.

And it was a late comeback that got the job done for the visiting Trojans as they overcame a 34-30 deficit with 4:48 to play to topple the young Mustangs.

Cary-Grove outscored Rolling Meadows 11-5 in the final 4:37 to pull out a 41-39 victory.

Two free throws by Dalia Grandberry put the Mustangs up by four points, but the Trojans (10-6) got a big 3-pointer from Kennedy Manning to cut the lead to 34-33 with 4:37 to play.

Senior Ellie Mjaanes had a huge game for Cary-Grove with a game-high 21 points and five 3-pointers, and her inside basket with 3:52 remaining gave her team a 35-34 lead.

Rolling Meadows (12-4) took its final lead at 36-35 on an inside hoop by Abby Ramel, who had 10 points and eight rebounds.

But Cary-Grove’s Malaina Kurth, who scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter, hit a 3-pointer with 1:34 left before adding a free throw for a 39-36 lead with 29.4 seconds to play. The Mustangs had to foul four times late in the game to put the Trojans in the bonus.

A key foul on Cary-Grove on a 3-pointer by Grandberry with 5.8 seconds left gave Meadows a chance to tie the game. But Grandberry (nine rebounds, five points) missed the first two free throws and was called for a line violation after she purposely missed the third free throw.

Mjaanes hit a free throw for a 41-36 lead with 4.6 seconds to go before a 3-pointer by the Mustangs' Nell Osterhues, who scored a team-high 14 points, at the buzzer accounted for the final score.

“I felt like we did a pretty good job over our tournament break of finding a way to close out close games, and we obviously didn’t do that today so that is something we have to continue to work on,” said Rolling Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky, whose team had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. “I felt it was two pretty evenly matched teams. They had the last run of the game, and that was the difference.”

The Mustangs led 7-0 early on, 9-8 after one quarter, 20-17 at halftime, and 28-26 after three quarters before being outscored 15-11 in the fourth quarter.

Lizzy Andriano had 10 points, five assists, and three steals while Manning had five points. Alivia Nielsen added four points for the Trojans.

“I felt like if we mixed up our pressures we could definitely have an advantage in the game, and I think we were 0-for-12 in the lane in the first half,” Cary-Grove coach Tony Moretti said. “But as always with this team they come out, they work hard, and they persevere. It’s a great senior-led team, and it showed down the stretch.”

Mjaanes scored all eight of Cary-Grove’s points in the first quarter and 14 of her 21 in the first half.

“I’m just really proud of how our team kept ourselves composed and we did what we needed to do at the end and stayed calm with the ball,” Mjaanes said. “My teammate Malaina had a big 3 at the end to give us the lead there and knocking down free throws at the end so I’m just proud of how we pulled one out.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250104/girls-basketball/girls-basketball-cary-groves-late-surge-sinks-rolling-meadows/