Girls Basketball
POPLAR GROVE – Richmond-Burton saw its chance at a share of the Big Northern Conference East Division girls basketball title flash before its eyes Thursday when its starting point guard and leading scorer, senior Erin Thomas, went down with a sprained ankle in the last five minutes of practice Thursday.
MARENGO – Senior Kourtney Heitz had to look up at the banners at Homer “Bill” Barry Gymnasium to see when the Indians won their last conference championship.
HEBRON – Alden-Hebron’s Carissa Stauss decided early on that she was not going to let the Giants lose the last home basketball game of her high school career.
Athlete of the Week
CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry’s bus ride to Crystal Lake South was noisy but smooth.
CARY– The Cary-Grove girls basketball team clinched a share of the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division title with a 42-33 win against Jacobs on Wednesday.
GRAYSLAKE – There was no hesitation from Johnsburg senior Ashley Schuld when asked about a potential postseason rematch with Grayslake Central in a couple of weeks.
WOODSTOCK – Sami Ahr caught fire at exactly the right time for Woodstock North.
SYCAMORE – Marengo’s Jessica Villie scored 11 of her game-high 18 points as part of a 21-point third quarter in the Indians’ 47-35 non-conference win against Sycamore on Tuesday.
HUNTLEY – Huntley’s girls basketball team needs a win.
JOHNSBURG – Johnsburg trailed Woodstock North by nine points at halftime of the teams’ Fox Valley Conference Fox Division girls basketball game Monday.
MARENGO – The way Jessica Villie looks at it, she can sleep some other time.
CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake South’s girls basketball players easily could have hung their heads and called it a night.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Alden-Hebron’s girls basketball team came through with a big fourth quarter Saturday to run past Rockford Christian Life, 47-38, in the third-place game of the Northeastern Athletic Conference Tournament at Christian Liberty.
Athlete of the Week
ROCK FALLS – Coach Nick Rode hopes the Marengo girls basketball team finds a way out of the funk its in, and quickly.
McHENRY – With three 6-foot girls in the rotation, McHenry is one of the taller teams in the area.
HUNTLEY – A couple of minor tweaks to Crystal Lake South’s full-court pressure defense made a big difference in Wednesday’s matchup against Huntley.
CARPENTERSVILLE – Prairie Ridge looked at the 29 points it surrendered in the first half to Dundee-Crown with disdain.
RICHMOND – It was almost fitting that Richmond-Burton finished out the last two minutes of Tuesday night’s game without senior guard Erin Thomas, who had fouled out.
NORTHWEST HERALD
GRAYSLAKE – Senior Morgan Berge scored a game-high 21 points Monday as Johnsburg pulled off a road upset at Grayslake North for a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division victory in girls basketball, 57-42.
GRAYSLAKE – Hampshire’s boys basketball team rose to the occasion Saturday, dealing Grayslake North its first Fox Valley Conference Fox Division defeat.
Athlete of the week
McHENRY – Morgan Hofmann and Adam Steinken each won two individual events and swam a leg of a winning relay for the Woodstock co-op boys swimming team Thursday in a 112-58 Fox Valley Conference win against McHenry.
MARENGO – Able to score almost anywhere on the basketball court, versatile junior forward Jessica Villie hardly was a surprise choice for Marengo to turn to needing a basket in crunch time.
CRYSTAL LAKE – Hampshire senior guard Michelle Dumoulin didn’t know what type of team the Whip-Purs would be after losing their top three scorers from last year.
McHENRY – At long last, the Warriors loosened the stranglehold the Red Raiders had on the McHenry-Huntley rivalry.
JOHNSBURG – Johnsburg girls basketball coach Brad Frey knew his team wouldn’t stay cold all game.
ALGONQUIN – In a girls basketball game that was much closer than the Fox Valley Conference standings, Dundee-Crown held on to defeat Jacobs, 42-40, on Tuesday.
BYRON – The Hampshire girls basketball team took third Monday at the Byron Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Tournament, finishing 3-1.
Huntley boys basketball coach Marty Manning remembers the excitement the final regular-season game stirred when he played at Hoffman Estates.
HUNTLEY – Huntley’s girls basketball team made a resounding statement in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division race Saturday.
WOODSTOCK – Woodstock North coach Mike Lewis can pinpoint exactly when his team’s season turned around.
CARPENTERSVILLE – Dundee-Crown’s girls basketball team was not lacking for inspiration when it hosted Crystal Lake South.
GRAYSLAKE – Crystal Lake Central coach Matt Le-Page couldn’t believe it when junior guard Paige Celestin fouled out of Friday’s game on a questionable blocking call. What ensued from there wasn’t so surprising.
HAMPSHIRE – Grayslake Central guard Jordan Taylor dumped in 27 points to lead the Rams past Hampshire in their Fox Valley Conference Fox Division game Friday night.
HEBRON – The Alden-Hebron girls basketball team picked up its first Northeastern Athletic Conference win of the season Thursday with a 42-40 win against Christian Liberty Academy.
Athlete of the week
WOODSTOCK – It’s tough to learn a lot from a blowout. But after Woodstock North’s girls basketball team dismantled visiting Rockford East, 48-19, on Monday, coach Mike Lewis still found some areas for improvement.
HUNTLEY – Nick Nitti rolled a 633 series, and Spencer Gardner had a 619 as Huntley defeated McHenry, 3,108-2,988, in boys bowling Monday at Bowl-Hi Lanes.
McHENRY – With everything on the line, McHenry freshman wrestler Cam Pait displayed the poise of a veteran in the final match of the night.
CARY – For six consecutive days after the Mundelein Holiday Classic, all Cary-Grove’s girls basketball team did was practice. After giving up 71 points to Zion-Benton in the tournament finale, the emphasis in those sessions was defense.
WOODSTOCK – Even as a senior, Marian Central’s Constance Melchionna was a little more nervous than usual Wednesday night against Prairie Ridge.
WOODSTOCK – Jamie White received an extra special birthday treat – some extended playing time.
NORTHWEST HERALD
CARPENTERSVILLE – In her Dundee-Crown basketball career, Ali Sanders never has experienced a season with a winning record, let alone a conference championship.
CARPENTERSVILLE – Ali Sanders had a productive week.
MARENGO – Woodstock North clamped down on Westminster Christian, holding the Warriors to 10 points in the second half to take fifth place in the Marengo E.C. Nichols Boys Basketball Tournament Wednesday with a 42-32 victory.
CARPENTERSVILLE – Johnsburg drove home a simple lesson for host Dundee-Crown in the Charger Classic Christmas Tournament: There are no easy wins when you play four games in a row.
