Stretch run to girls' season not far off

Is it really 2011?

The turning of the page into a new year brings with a chance to take our annual post-holiday tournament look at how the Fox Valley area's girls basketball teams have fared to this point, and a look at what lies ahead.

The reality of the girls basketball season is that the postseason isn't that far off. Regionals for Class 1A and 2A teams start Feb. 7 and Class 3A and 4A on Valentine's Day.

Having been through the wars of holiday tournaments, teams now focus on their conference races, while coaches scour the daily schedules to make their postseason scouting plans.

So, without further adieu, here's a team-by-team look at the season to this point as well as a peek at what's ahead.

Bartlett: The Hawks' undefeated season was derailed by powerful Fenwick in the Dundee-Crown championship game, but at least Bartlett made it there. The Hawks' goal was to win the tournament but deep down they know the accomplishment of reaching the D-C title game for the first time speaks volumes about how far this team has come. The Hawks also know, and they have Fenwick to thank for this, that they need to get physically tougher. Their upcoming schedule is brutal and then they play in the York sectional complex again, where the competition will be tougher than ever with the likes of Fenwick, Proviso East, Trinity and Wheaton North in the same field. But before that, this week gets the Hawks going again. They play at Geneva Tuesday night. Forget the whole Ashley Santos thing — Geneva's got a darn good team again and even though it's an Upstate Eight crossover, it will be important for Bartlett to get 2011 off to a good start and get some confidence back. Bartlett also still has two games with 12-1 Neuqua Valley, two games with South Elgin, and a Jan. 27 trip to Waubonsie Valley (13-2) on the docket before the postseason.

Streamwood: It's been a while since a Streamwood team was still in contention for a conference title after Christmas, but these Sabres have already established themselves as one of the program's best teams in at least a decade. They stumbled a bit at the Mundelein tournament, losing for the first two times this season and finishing sixth, but they also played four fine teams in Conant, Libertyville, Mundelein and Rockford Auburn. That competition should make the Sabres tougher for the stretch run. A big UEC Valley game Thursday at home against Geneva kicks off 2011 for Streamwood. Sabres' coach George Rosner now stands 2 wins away from 300 for his Streamwood career.

South Elgin: The Storm's hope is that Lania Robinson's 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat East Aurora for the consolation championship at Oswego East will be a catalyst to a productive finish to the season. At 6-8, South Elgin still has a good chance to salvage an above .500 season but with 3 losses already in the tough Upstate Eight Valley, about all South Elgin can do in the league is be a spoiler. And the Storm will have plenty of chances to do that as they have two games with Bartlett and one with Neuqua Valley remaining. An intriguing matchup Tuesday night opens the home stretch for the Storm when 12-3 St. Edward visits South Elgin. What the Storm has to realize to win is that Becca Smith can't do it all.

St. Edward: Speaking of the Green Wave, they're rounding into a pretty fine team. It took eventual Lisle tournament champ Antioch a free throw with no time on the clock to beat the Wave in the quarterfinals and then St. Edward came back with two impressive wins to take fifth place. Any thoughts of knocking Montini off the Suburban Christian Blue perch would be unrealistic, but the Green Wave should command second place in the division and if you take a close look at the postseason route St. Edward plays, penciling in a supersectional date against Bishop McNamara is not all that far-fetched. The Wave's up-tempo style is fitting to its athletes and as long as foul trouble doesn't put them too deep into a small bench, the Wave's top 7 players can play the game.

Cary-Grove: And speaking of small benches, Cary-Grove's 8-player rotation may have caught up with the Trojans just a bit in losing back-to-back games to Zion-Benton and Hoffman Estates at the Mundelein tournament. Still, at 13-3, Cary-Grove is a strong team that should retain its Fox Valley Valley title. One key date on the nonconference schedule is Jan. 22 when Wheaton North tourney champ Hersey visits Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.

Hampshire: The Whip-Purs left the Harlem tournament for the first time in decades and picked up some good competition at Oswego East, where they finished second to 12-1 Neuqua Valley, falling 45-42 in a tight championship game. First-year coach Ed Haugens has this team playing the same up-tempo style — as much on defense as offense — that became his trademark at Jacobs and there's little reason to think Hampshire can't hit the postseason 26-1 again. The two rivalry games with Burlington Central and that always dreaded trip to Richmond-Burton await the Whips, but this Hampshire team is shaping up to be every bit as good as last year's 29-2 squad that bowed out in the sectional finals.

Burlington Central: The Rockets' roller coaster ride continued with a 1-4 showing at the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic. Central has lost 5 of its last 6 and has slipped to 7-9 for the season, but games this week against North Boone and Harvard give the Rockets a shot at going into a seeding-important game at Kaneland Saturday 9-9. Alli Settanni and Brenda Thasavong have done a good job down low for BC this season but the young backcourt needs to come of age if the Rockets are going to finish strong.

Dundee-Crown: The Chargers won a game at their own tournament for the first time since 2006, something for Michelle Russell's group to build on. Taking care of the basketball better against pressure could yield D-C more wins, but at 4-11 the season has already been a success as compared to the past two.

Jacobs: The Golden Eagles got new coach Keith Chuipek his first win as a girls coach when they downed St. Charles East at Wheaton North tournament. Melanie Schwerdtmann continues to be one of the area's top scoring threats.

Huntley: The Red Raiders (8-4) lost to Lake Park 42-41 in the consolation title game at Mundelein. At 2-0 in the FVC Valley, they still pose a threat to Cary-Grove in the league.

Others: Elgin (0-15) and Larkin (2-12) struggled at Wheaton North and Oswego East respectively. The Maroons and Royals meet again Jan. 14 at Larkin ... Crystal Lake South (2-13) picked up its first two wins of the season in the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic, beating North Chicago and Marian Central ... Westminster Christian (6-4) went 2-2 at the Providence St. Mel tournament ... Elgin Academy did not play in a holiday tournament.