Daily Herald Players of the Week

Northwest suburbs

Kevin Reed, Prospect

Prospect received some excellent Reed-ing material from the 6-foot-7 junior in two victories after the holidays. Reed had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocked shots in a 59-52 Mid-Suburban East win over Rolling Meadows and had 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks in a 49-38 MSL crossover win over Palatine.

Kyle Castans, Schaumburg

Stake-ranked Schaumburg scored three major wins during the week and Castans was its leading scorer in each. The 5-foot-10 senior forward scored a game-high 22 points in a 54-52 win over state-ranked Wheeling, 16 in a first-place battle at Conant (37-30 win) and 16 against Central Suburban League power Maine South (39-33 triumph). Castans averaged 18 points and 8.7 rebounds in the three game while also collecting 8 assists.

DuPage Co.

Michala Johnson, Montini

The 6-foot-3 sophomore center scored game highs of 19 points in a 62-29 win at St. Francis and 22 in a 64-35 victory against Driscoll as the Broncos remained unbeaten in the Suburban Catholic Conference and stretched their winning streak to 11. In the two games Johnson shot 76 percent from the field and totaled 20 rebounds, 8 blocks, 8 steals and 7 assists.

Brian Gaughan, Benet

The Redwings' 6-foot senior guard scored a total of 34 points and had 10 assists against only 1 turnover in a pair of East Suburban Catholic Conference wins. Benet handed St. Patrick its first league loss as Gaughan, who tallied a game-high 22 points, hit a jumper with 15 seconds left to give his team a 57-56 win.

Lake Co.

Shana Shepherd, Warren

Shana was swishing 'em. The senior sharp-shooting guard burned Lake Forest for a career-high 22 points in the Blue Devils' 65-45 win. She sank three 3-pointers in helping the North Suburban Lake Division leaders improve to 18-1.

Ben Brust, Mundelein

Brust burst Warren's bubble. The sophomore poured in 30 points to lead the Mustangs to a 79-59 win. The 6-foot-2 transfer from Hersey was particularly deadly from three-point range, as he sank 6 of 8 shots.

Fox Valley

Chrissy Heine, Hampshire

Hampshire's sophomore center had a big week as the Whip-Purs went 2-1 and climbed into a first-place tie in the Big Northern East. She scored 15 points and had 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a win over North Boone; 16 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists in a tough loss to state-ranked Byron; and then, 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as well as going 9-for-11 on free throws in a big win over Burlington Central.

Cory Hrynyk, Bartlett

Bartlett's senior forward scored 13 points in a win against Larkin, but he turned in his best game of the weekend the next night at East Aurora. With the Hawks playing shorthanded, Hrynyk filled the scoring void by posting 22 of his 31 points in the second half to fuel a 17-point comeback that improved Bartlett to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the Upstate Eight Conference.

Tri-Cities

Tyler Smith, Marmion

The Cadets swept a pair of weekend Suburban Catholic Conference games, and Smith came up big in both wins. On Friday, Smith led the Cadets with 24 points in a 65-56 win over Driscoll, handing the Highlanders just their second SCC loss. He followed with 17 points and 8 rebounds as Marmion knocked off St. Edward Saturday.

Jordan Rettig, Rosary

The sophomore center helped Rosary complete a 2-win performance against Suburban Catholic Conference teams. She scored 18 points - 12 in the first quarter - against St. Edward and 15 points in a key win over Driscoll.