Girls basketball: St. Viator withstands Vernon Hills’ charge to net regional title

Going into its own Class 3A regional championship on Friday night, St. Viator's girls basketball team had won seven in eight seasons.

With a freshman and sophomore leading the offense, and an energetic defense, the No. 4-seed Lions kept their dominant run intact, registering a 48-43 victory over a stubborn No. 5-seed Vernon Hill squad (20-12) that never folded.

Freshman Ava Garcia scored a team-high 21 points and sophomore Kalin McCrea added 12 as the Lions held off the Cougars who trailed by 12 points with 1:36 left.

A layup by sophomore Emma Jocson (team-high 21 points) and back-to-back 3-pointers from Keira Thomson and Jocson got Vernon Hills to within 47-43 with five seconds left.

McCrea then made a free throw with 2.9 seconds left for the winning margin.

"She is a veteran sophomore," said Lions coach Kyle Braheny of McCrea's clutch 8 points in the final period. "I trust her with anything she needs to do. We want the ball in her hands. When they take the ball away from Ava (Garcia), that's fine because we have other playmakers and Kalin is one of those players. I have all the confidence in the world for her to get it done and that's exactly what we needed, We needed everyone on the floor to get this win. It was a great win for us."

"It feels great, back to back," said McCrea, who was also on last year's regional championship team. “Our defensive energy was great. And our bench has a lot of energy. So it's a whole team effort. It feels great. I'm just glad we get to move on."

The Lions (20-13) advance to the North Chicago sectional where they will face top-seeded Grayslake Central in the 6 p.m. semifinal on Tuesday. No. 2 Cary-Grove meets No. 3 Wauconda in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal.

"It's really exciting," said Garcia, one the state's top freshmen, about moving on to a sectional in her first high school season. "The key was just moving the ball around. I think we had great movement. When we move the ball and play like a team, I think that's what wins games for us."

St. Viator took the lead for good when Ellen Denten 's 17-footer made it 6-5 with 6:10 left in the first quarter and ignited a 9-3 run to close out the first period. McCrea followed with a 3-pointer for a 9-5 advantage.

Catherine Admanski's rebound bank shot made it 11-7 before Garvia scored the final two baskets of the quarter for a 15-7 cushion.

Garcia's first one was a layup coming off a steal a nifty assist from Maggie Ratzki. Garcia then hit an 8-footer with 27 seconds left.

Viator extended its lead to 22-12 in the second quarter when Bella Gounaris fired home a 3-pointer with 5:06 left until half.

Two free throws by Garcia, and one apiece from Denten and McCrea, made it 26-12 before Jocson hit a 3-pointer to get Vernon Hills within 26-15 at intermission.

Vernon Hills got to within 31-25 thanks to Frannie Poulos' 3-pointer.

Jocson's layup closed the gap to 33-28 . Kyli Ziebka's free throw in the final seconds gave the Lions a 36-30 lead heading into the final quarter.

Jcson's nifty charging layup cut the deficit to 36-33 with 5:35 left.

But McCrea answered with a fastbreak layup and the Lions went ahead 45-35 on a 3-pointer by McCrea with 2:01 left before holding for the 10th regional crown in program history.

"I'm very proud of how they work and prepare," said Lions second-year coach Kyle Braheny, a Schaumburg grad. "I'm not surprised by this. They put their heart and soul into it. The effort is phenomenal. This is well deserved. I'm very happy and proud of them for what they did. It's a great honor for them. I hope they enjoy it."

And this one came on their home floor.

"Oh my goodness, this is amazing," Braheny added. "This is one of the perks of hosting a regional. The home crowd was great with the student body here and all the support from everyone. It means a lot to do it on our homecourt. Now we get to cut down the nets which is very special to do."

It was a special season for Vernon Hills, also a young team which also received 6 points from junior Anahya Catyro and 5 from classmate Keira Thomas.

"Last year, we won 10 games," said 25-year coach Paul Brettner and Rolling Meadows grad, who led the Cougars to Class 3A second-place finishes in 2012 and 2013. "To come back with most of the same kids and work this hard to get 20 wins was really special for these kids.

"The second-half (rally) was really a credit to them. They did a great job. They (St. Viator) just made a few more plays than we did. That's how it goes sometimes."