5 Stars: Maine West Takes Care of Lake Forest, Advances to State Tournament

The postseason is all about which teams are hot at the right time and Lake Forest showed us that last week with their upset of Fremd to advance to Monday nights Super-Sectional against undefeated Maine West at Palatine High School. Maine West, however, had no intentions of losing their perfect season last night and ran away with a 53-34 victory to advance to this weekend’s State Tournament at Illinois State University. Here are my 5 Star players from the game: &nbsp; 1 Star: <strong>Dylan VanFleet</strong> – The 5’7’’ JR Combo Guard is one of the many versatile players that Maine West has to offer. VanFleet is a player who knows her role well in taking care of the ball, providing solid effort on defense, and slashing in the late for a high-percentage shot at the rim. She finished with 8 points, 2rebs, and 3 ast. &nbsp; 2 Stars: <strong>Grace Tirzmalis</strong> – Fighting foul trouble for a lot of the game, Tirzmalis' role was limited, but still effective enough to keep Lake Forest within striking distance for most of the game. The 6’1’’ SR is listed as a Forward but has the ability to score both inside and out. She can knock down shots from deep and rebounds well on both ends of the floor. She finished with 12pts and 4rebs. &nbsp; 3 Stars: <strong>Vanessa Reyes</strong> – Similar to Dylan VanFleet, Reyes has several different attributes that help Maine West be successful. The 5’8’’ SR showed the ability to handle the ball well and score inside in traffic, or step outside to knock down threes. She finished with 13pts. &nbsp; 4 Stars: <strong>Halle Douglass</strong> – As one of the top players in the Class of 2020, Douglass is as well-rounded as they come. The 6’2’’ Guard can handle the ball well for her height and is an exceptional passer. When looking to score she can hit from beyond the arc or post-up opponents and finish with touch. Also, a very strong mid-range game. She finished with 10pts, 7reb, 3ast, and 2st. &nbsp; 5 Stars: <strong>Angela Dugalic</strong> – Rivaling Douglass as top players in the Junior class, I was excited to see how this match up turned out. Both teams played zone for much of the game, so there weren’t a ton of 1-on-1 match-ups, but the Maine West role players helped take some of the pressure off Dugalic, and she was able to shine. The 6’4’’ Junior is listed as a Forward but is comfortable playing at any spot on the court. She has great ball-handling skills and is able to use her size to create open shots. Nobody on the court could box her out, so Dugalic had several second-chance points. She ended the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds.