Hampshire has a championship at Harlem in its sights

It's been quite some time since the Hampshire girls basketball program has felt it had a chance to win the championship of the Harlem Christmas Classic.

Let's face it, the quality of the field at Harlem may have diminished over the years, but this year's field isn't terrible, and it does include larger schools that Hampshire likes playing as it prepares for the second half of the season and the postseason push.

Back in the not-all-that-distant day, Hampshire fought for some titles at Harlem, but the only time the Whip-Purs walked out of the Machesney Park gym with the gold was in 2002, when they knocked off the host school 55-54 in a thrilling title game. That was the same season in which legendary coach Milt Awe's Whip-Purs took third place downstate, and only the second time Hampshire played for the Harlem title, the other being in 1990 when the Whips lost to Bill Butkus' Crystal Lake South team in the championship game.

In 2003, the season the Whips sent Awe into retirement with a second-place finish at state, they lost to Rockford Boylan 59-55 in the title game at Harlem. They also played for third place in 2007 and were awarded third last year, when one day of the tournament was snowed out.

History lessons aside, Hampshire coach Sue Ellett is a math teacher and she knows her team, which is 7-0 heading into tonight's game at Harvard, has the right combination to challenge for the Harlem title this season. Hampshire opens the Harlem tournament on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against the host school and will play Rockford East Thursday and Winnebago next Friday before the championship round is played Dec. 19.

"I'd be selling my kids short if I didn't have that expectation (of winning the tournament)," said Ellett, now 129-51 in her seventh season as the Whips' head coach. "I don't think there's anyone there better than us."

Ellett isn't being cocky, just confident based on what she's seen from her team so far.

"We've learned some things about ourselves," she said. "Our younger kids are coming along and for the most part we've been in a good flow most of the time."

That's about what Ellett expected this season with her three leading scorers - seniors Chrissy Heine and Cassie Dumoulin and junior Alex Dumoulin - returning to the lineup. True to form, those three have led the Whips, as Heine is averaging 14.6 points per game and Alex Dumoulin 13. And while Cassie Dumoulin is averaging just 6.6 points, she is the team's toughest defender, and she averages 5 rebounds a night. Heine pulls in 7.3 boards a night and Alex Dumoulin is just short of averaging a double-double with 9.9 rebounds per game.

"We've not only got leadership, experience and rebounding, but we brought back points," Ellett said. "Those three should get us 40 every night. We've played good defense and we're about 8-9 deep so we stay fresh. With kids like Cassie and Alex, the word tired isn't even in their vocabulary so we've been able to wear some teams down."

The Whips haven't done it all with just three players. They've blended an inside-outside game with junior guard Jessie VanDorin averaging 6 points a game and making 13 3-pointers so far, and 5-foot-8 junior Karla Vietinghoff contributing 5 points and 4 rebounds per game.

"I'm happy but I'm not satisfied," said Ellett. "There are bigger fish in the pond that we want to fry at the end. We don't want to go quickly or quietly in the postseason."

Approaching 1,000: Hampshire senior Chrissy Heine is approaching the 1,000 point mark for her career and has a chance at the milestone tonight in Harvard. She needs 19 points. Her older sister, Jackie, scored her 1,000th point at Harvard and Hampshire coach Sue Ellett said Jackie Heine will be on hand to watch the Whip-Purs in Harvard tonight. Chrissy Heine, as her sister did, will play her college basketball at Saint Xavier.

More Christmas: The Harlem tournament kicks off the holiday tournament season, which runs through Dec. 30. Other tournaments that begin next weekend include the multisite Northern Illinois Holiday Classic that Burlington Central plays in, the Mundelein tournament that includes Streamwood, Cary-Grove and Huntley, and the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic at Wheaton North that includes Elgin and Jacobs.

All in the family: On Jan. 5, South Elgin will play at St. Edward and while the varsity game is always the "marquee" matchup, the sophomore game on this night will have some family atmosphere to it. South Elgin head sophomore coach Aimee Corn will face her sister, Jaci, who is the St. Edward assistant sophomore coach. And it may not be blood, but South Elgin sophomore assistant coach Courtney LaFerle is Jaci Corn's assistant coach with the St. Edward sophomore softball team, as well as the two being teammates on the Northern Illinois Lightning women's fastpitch softball team in the summer. To take the ties one step further, St. Edward sophomore basketball oach Pete Sauter was on Lee Turek's staff when the Corn sisters played at Elgin and when LaFerle played at Larkin. It says here, the losers owe the winners dinner.

Thanks: Kudos go out today to all of the people who overwhelmed my e-mail after last week's column, expressing their desire to donate to the Zach Morrison medical fund. Zach is the Burlington Central graduate who has brain cancer. A bowling benefit will be held Sunday, Dec. 20 at Elgin Lanes with the proceeds going to help defray the cost of his mounting medical expenses. For more information on the event, and to donate, log on to www.fight4zachfoundation.org.

Condolences: To the family of Mike Powers. May you find peace during this difficult time.