LAKE FOREST – Coming off of the hardest Christmas Tournament in the state of Illinois and not having a game for eight days prior to Tuesday night will take its toll on any team.  For the fifth ranked Scouts it followed that script as they hosted the Buffalo Grove Bison for their first game of 2020.  

This game, on paper at least, seemed to be another double digit win for the Scouts. A 6-5 non conference opponent coming into the Comp. Gym to play the 13-3 Scouts, should be simple right? Wrong. Buffalo Grove came out with a purpose right from the opening tip pushing all of the Scouts’ buttons early. 

“They slowed the game down really well and then we had no ball movement on offense,” Head Coach Kyle Wilhelm said about the Bison’s play early. 

After sixteen minutes the Scouts were held to just four points, their lowest in a half all season, down 19-4 heading into the locker room.  “The coaches talked about playing with desire, energy, and toughness…they really motivated us because the worst way to lose a game is by playing with a lack of effort and desire,” said senior Halle Douglass who had two of the Scouts four points in the first half. It seemed the absence of junior point guard Molly Fisher, who is out for 2-3 weeks with a dislocated shoulder, was ever so relevant.

The second half, on the other hand, had everyone in the Competition Gym thinking they were at a different basketball game. The Scouts were able to score 4 points, but this time in the opening 41 seconds.  

Then Coach Wilhelm made an interesting move we are not used to seeing by subbing junior Mary McKendry in early on in the third quarter, and she made an immediate impact. “Mary provides a great spark in defense and we were trying to get her in the game at the end for as many defensive possessions as possible,” Wilhelm explained.  

With the blink of an eye, Lake Forest found themselves only down five heading into the fourth quarter, 25-20, out scoring Buffalo Grove 16-6 in the third quarter.  Halle Douglass countered her first half performance with a strong 10 point third quarter.  

Kendra Lee of Buffalo Grove, who has 1,000 points in her high school career, gave the Scouts trouble early and often, but she eventually went cold in the fourth and the Scouts took full advantage.  

Douglass continued to assert her dominance in the second half, adding 8 more points to her name in the fourth quarter, and Lilly Trkla chipped in with two big buckets of her own.  Lake Forest continued the uphill climb until Douglass was fouled which put her at the line for a one and one opportunity with just 9.7 seconds left in regulation. Douglass made the front end of the one and one and missed the second.

With the Bison racing down the court to try and escape with an upset win over the Scouts on the road, they came up empty on the offensive end and there had to be overtime to decide a winner.  A very low scoring contest, 33-33 heading into the 4 minute overtime period.  

In overtime it was all Halle Douglass as she had 7 of the teams 10 overtime points to finish with 27 on the night with only having 2 points in the entire first half.  

Even bigger than Douglass’ points were her assists, and when it mattered most Douglass let a half court pass fly to a wide open Lilly Trkla under the basket who buried the layup with less than 15 seconds left, and leading to a Scouts thrilling victory, their fourteenth of the season.  

Every team will have their rough nights offensively, but it is encouraging for teams to experience such a performance and still show resilience and a will to win.  

“While disappointed in the start, proud of the effort and comeback,” Coach Wilhelm stated, “We have a group that refuses to give up and when that happens, good things come to those teams.”

QUICK FACTS:

Scouts Current Record: (14-3) (4-1)

Next Game: 1/9 vs. St. Viator in the LFHS Comp. Gym

Follow the game on the NFHS Network if you can’t make it!