Smith, Yohn set the bar for returning players to strive for
The end of another girls basketball season is upon us.
The Fox Valley area may not have sent a team to the IHSA state final tournament this season, but we had our share of excitement nonetheless. Today, we honor the 2007-08 all-area team and its captains, Danielle Smith of Cary-Grove and Katie Yohn of St. Edward. We also take a look back and a look forward.
This season will go down as one of memories for all the players, coaches and fans who participated. But more than anything, it will go down as a learning experience for everyone.
We learned that:
Defense wins championships. Ask Cary-Grove if you don't believe that. With the addition of defensive mastermind Dave Otto to the coaching staff, the Trojans not only had one of the best defenses in the area, they had the most team success, winning 26 and losing only 4 under second-year coach Rod Saffert.
Not to be overlooked, the programs in the area that preach defense first -- those such as Huntley, Crystal Lake South, Hampshire, Burlington Central and Jacobs -- were also at the top of that defensive list and combined for a 79-38 record.
We also learned that we have some fine coaches in this area. Kudos for the job they did this season to Saffert, Huntley's Steve Raethz, South's Kyle McCaughn, Hampshire's Sue Ellett and Jacobs' Ed Haugens, all who won conference and/or regional championships or had 20-win seasons.
We learned we had some awesome seniors. Smith from Cary-Grove tops that list, and many of the other great seniors are honored today as part of the all-area team. In particular, Dundee-Crown's Robyn Staudenmaier, Burlington Central's Melanie Laird, and Bartlett's Katie Koster, are to be commended for their hard work in returning from knee injuries to help their respective teams. As with every year, we'll miss all the seniors and wish them nothing but the best for the future.
But we also learned we have some outstanding underclass players who will make even more of an impact next year. Keep your eye on Yohn, of course, whose toughest days are ahead as she makes a college choice. But don't take your eyes off players like these (in no particular order) as they grow older and more experienced:
Cary-Grove's Meg Straumann, Claire Jakubicek, CL South's Katie Burton and Michelle Gaede, Burlington Central's Jordan Maisto, Bartlett's Jacki Gulczynski, Huntley's Hillary Johnson, Elgin's Ellen Holton and Caris Alan, Streamwood's Emma Schmidt, Hampshire's Chrissy Heine, Alex Dumoulin and Christine Schmacher (who also came back from a knee injury this year to spark her team), Dundee-Crown's Sierra Dunner (who suffered a knee injury that shortened her sophomore season), and Jacobs' Hailey Cnota and Maria Tamburrino.
Just that short list tells me we're in for an exciting 2008-09 season and we all know new names will burst onto the scene this summer.
What changes will we see next season? Only time will tell. But as we close out the 2007-08 season with this weekend's IHSA Final Four (that term bugs me, and you'll find out why next week), we do so with a final farewell to the coaching ranks of one of the best guys I've ever had the privilege of working with -- Dundee-Crown coach Joe Komaromy.
Sorry, Joe, but the final column of your final season can't come to a close without one final salute. You have meant as much if not more to girls basketball than anyone who has ever roamed the sidelines in the Fox Valley area. You will be missed more than you know.
And yet another page is turned.