Glenbard West winning in more than one sport
Mike Hofland is living a coach's dream, but he wouldn't mind a moment to step back and take a deep breath.
The running backs coach for the Glenbard West football team, Hofland will be in Champaign this weekend when the Hilltoppers play for the Class 7A championship.
Meanwhile, his girls basketball team kept Hofland undefeated for the school year Wednesday with a 61-24 victory against Addison Trail at the Rachel Bach Memorial Tournament at Glenbard East.
"I'm going to have a breakdown, but I'm enjoying every minute of it," the double-duty coach said with a laugh. "I'm going to look back and it's going to be great memories."
Hofland could wind up with some pretty good memories of his girls basketball team. The Hilltoppers (4-0) put on a show, keeping the ball away from Blazers leading scorer Jazmin Little defensively, and utilizing their post game very well on offense.
Most coaches are lucky to have one 6-footer, but Hofland has five, starting 6-0 Abby Hastings, 6-1 Nicole Hazemi and 6-2 Cayla Herbst. Herbst scored 13 points grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked 4 shots, and Hastings added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
"Their big girls are really good, but we're playing sloppy right now, really sloppy," Blazers coach Rob Schader said. "Our big girls think they're guards."
"It's kind of like in football," Hofland said, mixing his sports. "They talk about our depth at running back. We've got depth in post and it's fun to watch. It's a self-motivator. The biggest thing is to get kids to play hard all the time, and this group it hasn't been an issue yet. And they know if one of them isn't doing the job, there's somebody else going in and getting that opportunity.
"And we haven't had to use it. These kids, they really get along well, they work hard. They're a lot of fun to coach."
Hofland admits to the occasional lapse between sports.
"My head goes back and forth. I think I yelled holding on one play at the ref," Hofland said. "He said, 'Holding?' I'm so confused."
He could get away with a little confusion the way his team played. Glenbard West led all but the first 10 seconds of the game and took a 17-6 lead at the 1:20 mark of the first quarter on Hazemi's three-point play. After Herbst fed Hastings for a lay-in underneath, the Hilltoppers went into halftime with a 34-13 lead and cruised to the win.
Hilltoppers senior guard Abbey White led all scorers with 17 points, but she added 5 assists feeding the post players down low and even had 3 rebounds and a blocked shot.
"They're going to do well, they're going to do real well this year," Schader said of the Hilltoppers.
Junior MeShaundra Donald led the Blazers (0-5) with 9 points.
Agonizing as it might be, Hofland will miss Saturday's game against Downers Grove North, leaving the coaching to his assistants.
"I think the girls understand that," Hofland said. "They don't need me anyway."