Cary-Grove vs. Jacobs in FVC tip-off
The preliminaries are over for the Fox Valley Conference's girls basketball teams.
The only conference in the area to wait until after Christmas to begin league play, the FVC divisional races begin tonight with the first round in the 10-game conference schedule.
The most intriguing Valley Division matchup has Cary-Grove (13-3) traveling to Algonquin to meet Jacobs (8-7). Most observers feel Cary-Grove is the team to beat in the Valley, but Jacobs is coming off a big win at Huntley last Friday and the Golden Eagles went 2-2 and made it to the consolation championship game at the tough Wheaton North Christmas tournament.
"The girls are starting to click a little," said Jacobs coach Ed Haugens, now 87-43 in his fifth year. "Our biggest problem has been consistency. If we can get more consistent in our scoring we'll be OK."
One player who hasn't had any problems scoring for the Golden Eagles is senior guard Markie Rahn. She lit up Huntley --- one of the better defensive teams in the area -- for 28 points in the Golden Eagles' 48-39 win at Huntley. She also scored 34 earlier in the season against Crystal Lake Central. She is averaging 14.7 points for the season.
"Markie is scoring within the flow of the offense," Haugens said. "She's letting the game come to her and she's taking good shots."
Rahn's scoring potential isn't lost on Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert, that's for sure.
"She's quick and she uses her speed to her advantage and drives to the basket real well," Saffert said of the 5-foot-8 Rahn. "Jacobs has been playing real well the last couple weeks and it's at their house. They're always tough over there."
To shut down Cary-Grove, Jacobs will have to play sound defense all over the floor. The Trojans have shown great offensive balance this season with 6-foot senior guard Danielle Smith (12.6 ppg), 6-2 senior forward Jamie Kuhl (10.1) and 5-10 senior Jill Cole (9.2).
"The chemistry on this whole team has been good," said Saffert, whose team finished third at the Mundelein Christmas tournament and has lost only to Hononegah, Resurrection and Waukegan. "We basically play nine girls and it doesn't matter who is out there, they've all been doing the job. Different kids have stepped up at different times. It's been great."
Haugens knows tonight's game is just one of 10 but that it will also be a good indicator of things to come.
"I will show us where we're at when we're done playing Cary," he said. They're a lot better this year. Everybody shoots well and they pressure the ball all over the floor. They can give you problems at both ends."
Dundee-Crown (7-9) will open Valley play tonight at home against McHenry (3-10) and Chargers coach Joe Komaromy is hoping his team can snap a six-game losing streak that includes four tough losses at the Charger Classic.
"There's no time like the present," said Komaromy, who is seeking his 447th career win tonight. "I thought we were on a nice roll right before Christmas and now we just have to get back on track. We need a good game (tonight)."
The Chargers have continued to be led on the offensive end by seniors Robyn Staudenmaier (12.6 ppg), Kate Pilson (11.5) and Kathleen Collingbourne (7.3).
Komaromy believes Cary-Grove is the team to beat in the Valley but that it could be a wide open race his team should be a part of.
"We've got 10 games and they're all games we should be competitive in," he said. "We feel we should have a chance to win all 10 of those games."
The other Valley matchup is Wednesday between teams that also figure to contend for the division title as Crystal Lake South (11-5) is at Woodstock (12-4). The Gators have been led in scoring by Carly Juliano (9.3) and Jessica Taldone (8.1).
The Fox Division also kicks off league play tonight with Huntley (9-6) playing at Grayslake North (7-7), Prairie Ridge (6-11) at CL Central (1-12) and Grayslake Central (3-9) hosting Johnsburg (8-7).
Elsewhere around the area tonight, St. Edward (7-6, 3-2), which has lost 5 of 6, hosting Rosary (13-4, 4-1) in a Suburban Catholic Conference matchup. St. Edward continues to have the leading scorer in the area in junior Katie Yohn (19.4 ppg) but has struggled as a team offensively, having scored 50-plus points just five times in 13 games.
Burlington Central (11-5, 2-0) continues pursuit of a second straight Big Northern East title tonight at Harvard (7-7, 1-0) while Hampshire (9-6, 2-1) tries to keep pace as it hosts North Boone (7-5, 2-1). Seniors Cory Bazany (13.4 ppg) and Melanie Laird (12.8) continue to lead BC while snior Mallory Koster (12.2) and Chrissy Heine (11.1) remain Hampshire's leading scorers, although freshman Alex Dumoulin (7.9) is getting better with every game. The return last weekend of junior guard Christine Schumacher from a knee injury has also given the Whip-Purs a boost.
In nonconference play tonight, South Elgin hosts Lakes, which earlier this season set the state record for consecutive losses.