Article updated: 1/31/2013 9:35 PM

Revisiting the magic that was Hampshire girls basketball

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Former Hampshire girls basketball coaches Milt Awe and Sue Ellett guide the Whip-Purs during the 2002 Harlem Christmas Tournament. Later that season, Hampshire brought home its first state trophy in basketball when the Whip-Pur girls finished third in Class A.

Patrick Kunzer | Staff Photographer

Former Hampshire girls basketball coaches Sue Ellett, left, and Milt Awe celebrate 1,000 career points scored by Nicole Watzlawick (center left) and Jackie Heine (center right) during a game in 2004. Later that season the Whip-Purs finished second in the Class A state tournament and Watzlawick and Heine were named Daily Herald all-area captains.

Patrick Kunzer | Staff Photographer

About this Article

Every once in a while, a team comes along that you just never forget. In this case it's three teams. Time may blur the memory a bit here and there and require searching the archives to be accurate, but what will never be forgotten is how special the Hampshire girls basketball teams of 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 really were. For three years running the Whip-Purs played on the final weekend of the season at Redbird Arena. The only other basketball program in the Daily Herald's Fox Valley coverage area to do that was the Elgin boys from 1943-45.