Fitting performance by CSL North champ Maine West
Maine West's girls basketball team played its first game on Monday since being crowned the Central Suburban North champion last Friday.
As they have all season, the Warriors were wearing the patch on their jersey with the letters DK - honoring Derril Kipp, their late Hall of Fame coach who passed away last July.
The Warriors' conference title just extended Kipp's dominant run of 26 championships in his 35 years.
West was also dominant in its final regular-season nonconference game in Des Plaines.
The Warriors celebrated Senior Night with a 47-22 triumph over Lake Zurich.
Acacia Hernandez, honored along with fellow senior Ashley Burton before the game, scored West's final basket of the win which moved the Warriors' record to 23-3.
"Senior Night was one of Derril favorite times of the season," said Warriors coach Kim deMarigny. "He loved seeing the seniors out there who put in so much hard work."
"Mr. Kipp definitely set the tone for our conference title," Hernandez said. "And he loved Senior Night. He loved being able to start all the seniors and people who don't play all that much. He had fun watching them trying to play their best."
Kipp was one of best coaches in IHSA girls basketball history with 788 wins and an undefeated team (35-0) that won the 1988 Class AA state championship.
"I am so grateful to him for letting me coach for his Illinois Hustle program when I was just 24 years old and an assistant to Carl Krause at Lake Zurich," said Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett. "He didn't have to do that. I was just a young kid coaching basketball and I'm so thankful to have done that for five summers for him."
Bennett's Bears have played Maine West in nonconference games for a decade and he also faced Kipp's teams and before that, when they joined forces to conduct the Sweet Sixteen tournament.
"Derril would have loved tonight," Bennett said. "He loved seeing all the kids acknowledged for Senior Night. He was here tonight. I have no doubt.
"And I am sure that was his zone defense we were facing and elements of his offenses. What a tough job Kim (deMarigny) stepped into. She is doing an awesome job."
Stepping up in the young Warriors offense on Monday were junior Allison Pearson (11 points, 4 rebounds), junior Alisa Fallon (9 points), sophomore Rachel Kent (8 points) and freshman Angela Dugalic (7 points, 5 rebounds).
After Bears junior guard Grace Kinsey (5 points) opened the game with a 3-pointer, West went on an 11-0 run and never looked back. Dugalic had all 7 of her points during the run, including a 3-pointer.
"We played OK on defense," deMarigny said. "We didn't execute our offensive sets the way we wanted. But it was great to see our seniors get playing time."
"They (Maine West) just had too much firepower tonight," said Bennett, who team (11-15) was led by junior McKenna Zobel's 13 points. "That's (West) a very good basketball team."
A team that will try for a perfect 10-0 run in the CSL North when its visits Highland Park on Friday.
"It's just continuing Derril's legacy," deMarigny said. "That was the plan for this season. That's what our T-shirts say. We want to finish strong for Derril."
Derril's wife Marianne was at Monday's game with family.
"It got me right before the game, seeing Marianne," Bennett said. "Just being here in this gym, on Senior Night, with Derril's picture on the wall. What a legend."