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30 | December 13, 2018 | The highland park landmark sports
hplandmark.com
Ignoffo joins 1K club after stellar 25-point game
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
NORTH SHORE
In front of a populous
Pack the Place crowd, senior
and four-year varsity
player Sydney Ignoffo’s
3-pointer in the third
quarter not only extended
Highland Park’s lead to
51-28 mark over Maine
East, but also earned her
1,000th career point.
Ignoffo finished the
game with 25 points, 15 of
those coming in the second
half. The Giants went on to
win 67-44 over conference
rival Maine East on Friday,
Dec. 7, in Highland Park.
“It’s really exciting especially
to have it on my
home court with my family
here,” Ignoffo said.
Ignoffo also gave credit
to her teammates for
helping her achieve her
1,000-point milestone.
“This is my closest
team ever and they just do
such a good job of finding
me,” she said. “I obviously
couldn’t have done
it without all of them,
just finding me and giving
me the opportunity
to score. It’s just exciting
because it feels like a win
for everyone. It’s not just
my milestone, but it’s the
whole team’s.”
Ignoffo wasn’t the only
Giant to record large scoring
numbers, however.
Three-year varsity player
Addie Budnik, a junior,
scored a team-high 34
points. Budnik scored 22
of her 34 points in the first
half. Maine East held its
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last lead of the game at
12-10 in the first quarter
before the Giants went on
a 24-6 run to take a 34-18
halftime lead.
“(Coach Jolie) Bechtel
called a timeout and right
from there, we knew we
had to pull through because
we were the better
team going in and we
knew that,” Ignoffo said.
“We went into the game
thinking we were going to
win, so I think we just had
to regroup. And then we
started playing well.”
The Giants continued
to extend their lead to
58-34 by the end of the
third quarter, outscoring
Maine East 24-16 in that
period and finished with a
23-point win.
Three players combined
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to score all the points for
the Giants between Budnik’s
34 points, Ignoffo’s
25 points and junior Halle
Abrams’ 8 points. Despite
only three Giants scoring,
Budnik said the contributions
from all the players
on the team were critical
to the team’s victory.
“I think our teammates
did a really good job of
getting us the ball and rebounding,”
Budnik said.
“All around our teammates
did a really good job
tonight and I think that’s
what really helped us. Everybody’s
contributions
really helped. No matter if
it was on the bench or on
the court, it all helped.”
Budnik added that a
combination of the Packthe-Place
crowd and the
team’s energy propelled
the team to the Friday
night victory.
“Because it was a conference
game and we had a
chance to be 2-1, we had a
lot of energy and the bench
especially,” she said. “I
think the atmosphere definitely
helped. It definitely
gave us a lot more energy
and more motivation to
want to win especially because
it’s at home and everybody’s
here supporting
us.”
The Giants rebounded
nicely from a 72-33 loss
against an undefeated
2018 Maine West earlier in
the week. That challenge,
mixed with the opportunity
to play high-caliber
players, helped the Giants
put together their best
game Friday night, Ignoffo
said.
We were better on defense
this game, we were
stronger this game and we
were grabbing better rebounds,”
she said.
Highland Park junior Addie Budnik looks for an open
teammates in a CSL North conference win against
Maine East Friday, Dec. 7, in Highland Park. Photos by
Neil Ament/22nd Century Media
Giants sophomore Sydney Schenk (10) drives down the
court despite pressure.