Grant's Ruetsche has got game

Grant senior point guard Heather Ruetsche has acquitted herself well in games all season.

Warm-ups?

Well, that's another story.

The latest example came Jan. 22 prior to Grant's game against visiting St. Charles East.

"I went up to block a pass and my right shoulder popped out," she said. "That's the second time it happened to me. It made me feel dumb. Who gets hurt in warm-ups?"

Ruetsche missed the St. Charles East and Lake Zurich games with her partially dislocated shoulder.

Although she was not 100 percent, she returned to the floor Wednesday to help Grant defeat Round Lake 65-56. The victory secured Grant's fourth consecutive NSC Prairie Division title.

"I told coach (Tom) Oeffling I was going to play no matter what," she said.

Ruetsche played her usual solid defense and did a good job of getting Grant into its offense.

"Heather had a gutsy game," Oeffling said. "(Even) with one arm, she makes our offense run so much more smoothly."

Added senior Autumn Gaylor: "Heather is the tempo of our team. She puts us in our spots and gets us going."

Ruetsche, who is a top pitcher on Grant's softball team, rarely looks for her shot. Grant has a steady stable of scorers, and she prefers to set them up.

"I like to make great passes," she said. "As a point guard, I feel I like I have control of the game."

This is Ruetsche's third year on varsity, although this is the first season where she has started and logged a lot of court time.

For the last two years, Ruetsche said she treated practices as her games.

"I didn't like not playing, but there were better players on the team," she said. "I learned to accept it and it made me work harder in practice to earn more playing time."

Oeffling said Ruetsche is a steadying influence on the floor for Grant.

"She's smart and she doesn't make silly errors," Oeffling said. "We feel positive about how we're going to play when she's out there."