Ridgewood cruises to easy win over Kelvyn Park in playoff opener

Ridgewood 67, Kelvyn Park 16

THE SKINNY

The Ridgewood girls basketball team ended Kelvyn Park’s season in the regional quarterfinals for the second straight year Monday night in River Grove. With the win, the Rebels, the No. 15 seed in the Class 3A Ridgewood Sectional, advanced to play No. 2 Antioch in the Guerin Regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

TURNING POINT

Ridgewood (5-23) never trailed against the Panthers. The Rebels took an 8-2 lead with 4:52 remaining in the first quarter on freshman forward Catherine Spanola’s field goal, and then they went on a 12-2 run to close out the quarter. Ridgewood led 20-4 at the end of the first quarter and 35-10 at halftime.

THE STARS

Ridgewood junior guard Janell Flores scored a game-high 18 points, and junior forward Emsada Prijic (14 points) nailed four 3-pointers. Rebels sophomore forward Lexie Crotty finished the game with nine points and 10 rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS

Junior forward Deysi Armenta tallied nine points to lead Kelvyn Park, the No. 18 seed in the Ridgewood Sectional, in scoring. The Panthers finished the season 1-20

QUOTABLE

“We didn’t really show any of our offensive sets [tonight]. We kind of just ran a four-out, one-in and looked for layups … or [to knock] down 3s. … Tomorrow, any shot we have that’s open, we’re taking it. We have a higher likelihood of turning it over on a pass, so we’re better off just shooting it if we’re open. Defensively, we’ll look to trap more.” — Ridgewood coach Amanda LoBianco