Maine West preps for meeting with New Trier

Maine West Hall of Fame girls basketball coach Derril Kipp has steered the Warriors to 24 sectionals over the past 33 seasons.

Monday's appearance in the Class 4A Maine East semifinal will be the Warriors' first since 2007 when they won their ninth sectional crown under Kipp.

To win a tenth, the No. 4-seeded Warriors (17-11) must first stop top-seeded New Trier, which brings a record of 25-4 into the game which begins at 6 p.m.

No. 2 Evanston (21-7) faces No. 3 Loyola in the 8 p.m. semifinal. The Wildkits defeated the Ramblers 52-45 during the regular season.

New Trier also has an impressive resume of postseason history with 18 regional titles, the last in 2009.

Maine West is led by the school's all-time leading scorer Brittany Collins, who has scored 2,046 points in her four-year career.

The 6-foot senior is headed to play at St. Xavier while her 6-3 post partner Julia Huinker is a St. Francis (Joliet) recruit.

Veteran Trevians coach Teri Rodgers has one of her deepest teams.

Jeannie Boehm, a 6-3 sophomore, led the Trevians with 13 points in a 55-21 victory over Maine East in the New Trier regional final.

Maine East (20-7) was the Central Suburban North champ over runner-up Maine West.

Collins had 24 points and 20 rebounds in West's 43-39 victory over Maine South in the Warriors' own regional championship.

New Trier and Maine West met in the second round of the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic in late December. The Trevians came out on top 66-44.

"In order to have a shot this time, we'll need other people to step up because they had two people on Brittany the whole time," Kipp said. "We are running our offense a little better now so hopefully we'll be able to move the ball better."

Kipp said the Warriors turned the ball over 20 times against New Trier the first time.

"The difference this time will be turnovers and shot attempts," he added. "We have to get good shots and not turn the ball over."