Schmidt hits 1,000; Streamwood 7-0
Emma Schmidt joined a select group of girls basketball players to come from Streamwood High School Saturday night.
With 2:57 to play in the third quarter against St. Ignatius, Schmidt took a bounce pass in the lane from sophomore Deja Moore, turned and hit a short jump shot that accounted for her 1,000th career point.
“Coming into the game I wasn't focused on 1,000 points, I was focused on winning,” said Schmidt, the prototype for team players.
And win the Sabres did, for the seventh time this season without a loss, knocking off coach George Rosner's alma mater 67-53 in front of a healthy crowd in their home opener.
“She's a special player and she really played well tonight, said Rosner, who climbed to within 8 wins of 300 at Streamwood for his long career. “Every time (St. Ignatius) challenged us tonight we answered and Emma was a part of it every time.”
Schmidt became just the fifth Sabre girls basketball player to reach 1,000 points, following Donna Groh, Chris Francke, Renee Kanak and Rita Castans. Francke, a former Streamwood assistant coach who starred at DePaul and now lives in Crystal Lake, was in attendance at Saturday's game.
“It's neat (Schmidt) was able to do it in front of Chris,” said Rosner.
Schmidt, a four-year varsity player who is headed to Central Missouri University, admitted when she started playing basketball at Streamwood she never thought about scoring 1,000 points.
“It's really a big honor,” she said. “Freshman year I never even thought about it but as the years went on it became an aspiration.”
She finished the game with 22 points and 6 steals as Streamwood continued to show it's the real deal this season, facing what Rosner called his team's toughest challenge of the season.
The Sabres, who have won 12 of their last 13 dating back to last season, started out hot. Schmidt scored 8 points and the Sabres had a 17-9 lead after one quarter. But St. Ignatius (3-5) came back strong in the second quarter and used a 3-pointer from Mariah Harris to draw within 2, 27-25, by halftime.
Streamwood owned the second half and even though St. Ignatius made some runs, the Sabres' lead was never seriously threatened. They opened up as much as an 11-point advantage midway through the third quarter, led 46-40 after three and eventually had as much as a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“It was our first home game and you come in with a 6-0 record and people want to see what you have,” said Rosner. “That's the most we've been challenged but what I really liked was that every time they came back on us we came right back on them.”
The ever-improving Moore added 18 points for the Sabres, who shot a torrid 28-for-49 (57 percent). Amanda Patterson added 15 and Michelle Tomczak had 11. Schmidt had 15 rebounds and Tomczak nine to lead the Sabres on the glass.
“Deja had a fabulous game and Amanda Patterson is a point guard who can score now,” Rosner said. “We have five people on the court who can score at any time and we haven't had that in a while.”
Nor have the Sabres had a special player like Emma Schmidt in a while, nor have they had a special season in a while. This is their best start since 1987-88 when they were 14-0 on their way to the only Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
“I believe we're a big threat this year,” Schmidt said. “Our next four games we play St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Conant and Rolling Meadows. That will be a tough stretch for us.”
Allison Jeffris led the Wolfpack with 15 points and Kelly Nickele added 14. The sister duo of Gena and Ali Lenti, the daughters of highly successful DePaul softball coach Eugene Lenti, combined for 12 points.