Highland Park's Munzer's 25 Points Proves Too Much For Maine West

Star sophomore Lena Munzer scored 25 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as Highland Park High School ran past 63-45 in area girls basketball on Thursday.

Munzer praised her teammates as she reflected on her career-high performance and the game itself.

"It was really my teammates that got me open," she said. "They did a nice job. I tried to use my speed to my advantage against a taller player and get a step ahead of my opponent."

The Central Suburban League North division was the backdrop as both schools staged this early conference battle. The visiting Giants got out to a 14-12 first quarter lead as Munzer had eight early points.

The second quarter was just as evenly played as Maine West freshman Brittany Collins (10 points) would score eight in the stanza and pull down three rebounds to keep the Warriors close as the sides headed into the locker room with Highland Park clinging to a one point lead at 29-28.

The third quarter was a portent of what was to come as Highland Park slowly started to creep away from the hosts. Ariel Swartz (14 points), who was saddled with foul trouble for the Giants, hit a pair of mid-range jumpers while teammate Emily Feldman had a trio of driving lay-ups on top of some free-throws to give the visitors a 45-33 lead heading into the final frame. The Warriors were plagued by a five-point third quarter in which they committed seven turnovers and shot only 2-8 from the field.

In the fourth quarter, it really went wrong for the Warrior defense.

The Giants hit seven of 13 shots from the floor, many of them easy, driving lay-ups as the Warrior defense was forced to press in an attempt to come back. It never happened as Munzer tacked on eight more to send the Giants to a crucial road victory.

For Maine West head coach, Derril Kipp, the dissapointment was everywhere.

"We're mentally not tough," Kipp said. "We've got young kids and we made mistakes and we don't play the game we can. It wasn't so much what they did but what we did. Right now, we have to work on being tougher and not giving up. We're very young, we don't execute and we don't do things the way we are taught in practice. We'll need more leadership."

Maine West: Hoye 2, Dumitriu 2, John 4, Martin 2, A. Collins 4, B. Collins 10, Stepanoivich 2, Kusner 7, Kennelly 8, Burkhardt 4.