Cary-Grove’s stifling defense, consistent offense carries way past Lake Forest to regional title

CARY- Winning a regional championship is always exciting. Winning a regional championship on your home court makes it extra special.

The Cary-Grove Trojans used a stifling defense and consistent offense to earn a 49-34 victory over Lake Forest for the Class 3A Cary-Grove Regional championship Thursday night.

“To win it at home is so special. This team is special – there are no egos. With this group it’s all business and all basketball,” Cary-Grove coach Tony Moretti said.

The Trojans were all business from the opening tip, thanks to the defense creating offense.

In the first quarter, the defense created six turnovers against the visiting Scouts, turning that into an 18-8 lead.

Senior forward Ellie Mjaanes, the focus of the Lake Forest defense, went to work in the post, scoring eight early points. Guard Kennedy Manning also had a strong quarter, hitting a 3-pointer as she added seven points to get the Trojans off and running.

“Our goal is to push the ball because one of our strengths is being really fast, and we try to get as many points off the fast break as we can,” said Manning, a junior who finished with 17 points and six steals.

In the second quarter, the C-G offense found success from the perimeter with Manning, Mjaanes, and Malaina Kurth each hitting 3-pointers to help build a 31-17 lead at halftime.

“We like to feed the post with Ellie, but we also can hit shots from the outside, and tonight both were really going well,” Kurth said.

In the second half, the Trojans' offense continued to hum, extending the lead with Manning and Sam Skerl each scoring seven points to seal the win.

“I think we did really well at the start, we created 18 turnovers in the first half, and that set the pace which helped set up the offense,” said Skerl, who finished with 10 points and two steals.

The Trojans' defense made things challenging for the Scouts. Using an energetic half-court pressure defense, the Trojans created turnovers, dominated the rebounding advantage and limited good shots for the Scouts (11-18).

“In practice, we really focused on staying on their shooters, and we communicate really on defense, and that is a big help,” said senior Alivia Nielsen, who had two blocked shots and two steals.

“Cary-Grove is a really good team, they are long and big and the way they play you have to find pockets to find open shots, and we had trouble with that tonight,” Lake Forest coach Stacey Leach said.

Cary-Grove (24-7) moves on to the North Chicago Sectional to face Wauconda in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday but will take some time to enjoy winning its second straight regional championship.

“Winning tonight feels really good, especially with this group of girls,” said Mjaanes, who scored 17 points. “Ever since last season, we knew that this is one of our goals getting another regional championship. We’ve worked really hard, and this is a special group to do it with.”