Winkler clutch late as River Forest wins title

CALUMET TWP. — River Forest’s Kali Winkler answered the bell when her teammates needed her most.

With the score tied at 17 and only 24 seconds into the fourth quarter and bitter rival Lake Station trying to grab the momentum, the sophomore guard took over and tilted the verdict in favor of the Ingots (8-6).

Winkler scored eight straight points and 10 of her game-high 19 in the fourth quarter, leading River Forest to a 31-24 win over the Fighting Eagles (57) in the title game of the Calumet Tournament on Tuesday night.

“After they tied it, I knew I had to do something,’’ Winkler said. “I knew I had to get to the basket.’’ Suffice to say, Winkler did. She answered Lake Station’s charge with a basket of her own, putting the Ingots ahead for good 19-17.

Then, she swished a three-point basket to up her team’s lead to 22-17.

After a steal and score by Lake Station’s Desiree Parrillo made it 22-19, Winkler stole the ball and converted a three-point play with 5:30 left, giving the Ingots a 25-19 lead.

“Kali is the type of player who can take over a game,’’ River Forest coach Courtney Quigg said. “She has some fundamentals she still needs to work on, but she’s doing a good job of leading the team again this season even though she’s a sophomore. It’s not easy to handle that pressure.’’

Winkler added a basket inside to help River Forest take control and beat the Eagles for the second time in 11 days.

“That’s our rival, it’s big to beat our rival,’’ she said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew we’d have to work for it, but if we really wanted it, we’d go out and get it.’’

Winkler’s sister Elicia, made a big impact for the Ingots, too.

Despite scoring only two points, she collected a game-high 12 rebounds and made four steals.

“Elicia was a major difference for us,’’ Quigg said. “She played great defense, causing a lot of turnovers, had some key steals and crashed the boards. She played her butt off and did a ton for us.’’

Lake Station coach Kristy Hite was disappointed in the outcome, but not her team’s effort.

“It was much more of a basketball game than it was (11 days ago at 49-37),’’ she said. “We just made way too many mistakes to try and win a championship game, but I feel like we gave them a run for their money.’’

Elicia Winkler, North Newton’s Alisha Watts, Lake Station’s Ashlinn Jorgensen and Colleen Cary and Calumet’s Tiara Lancaster were all named to the tournament’s All-Sportsmanship Team.

North Newton beat Calumet, 45-31, in the consolation game.

In Tuesday’s first round, Lake Station beat North Newton 44-41, while the Ingots beat Calumet 37-25.