Krause steps up for South Elgin; BC's Maisto closes in on 1,000
If South Elgin's girls basketball team is going to turn the corner and finish with a winning season, the Storm will need more than the offensive exploits of sophomore standout Becca Smith to get it done.
The Storm (9-12) may have found the missing offensive link over the weekend when 6-foot senior forward Alyssa Krause stepped up to score 15 points in Friday's 74-67 loss at East Aurora then came back with an all-important 20 points on Saturday when South Elgin dealt Hampshire its first loss of the season, 75-67.
"Becca Smith is their show," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett. "But (Krause) really stepped up for them today. I saw her warming up and said 'Oh my God, that's Nicole Watzlawick.' "
Watzlawick, of course, is a former Daily Herald All-Area captain who helped Hampshire finish third in the 2003 Class A state tournament and then second in 2004 before going on to play college ball at Wisconsin-Parkside.
Realistic approach: Hampshire coach Sue Ellett took her team's first loss in stride Saturday.
"If you know you're going to win night in and night out it gets old and there's no challenge," she said. "We're going to see somebody like (South Elgin) again and we'll learn from this."
Ellett would have liked it if her team had played better defense Saturday. South Elgin's 75 points were easily a season high against the Whip-Purs, who had allowed less than 30 points per game on average prior to Saturday.
"Defensively we would have liked to have held them down a little better," Ellett said. "They had a little too much offense for us today."
Nearing 1,000: Burlington Central senior guard Jordan Maisto is on the cusp of joining the 1,000-point club. Maisto needs just 24 points to reach 1,000 and figures to do it this week. The Rockets are at North Boone tonight and then host Harvard on Thursday. Maisto also has 166 3-pointers in her four-year varsity career.
Projecting: At 18-1 Hampshire would be poised to make a deep run into the postseason, right? Don't take that to the bank just yet. The postseason sets up to be quite challenging for the Whips, who are in the Class 3A Rochelle regional with a field that includes Burlington Central, a team Hampshire beat just 47-42 and has to play again Feb. 5 at Central, as well as Rochelle and DeKalb (15-7). Hampshire beat DeKalb 31-29 to win the DeKalb Thanksgiving tournament. If the Whips do survive the regional, they'll move on to the DeKalb sectional where they could end up seeing Oswego, a team that lost to Upstate Eight leader Waubonsie Valley by just 2 points two weeks ago. The Whips could also see Belvidere in the sectional, a team they play on the road Feb. 2. Hampshire advanced to the sectional semifinals at Marengo last year before losing to Freeport.
Class 1/2A pairings: The IHSA released pairings for the Class 1A and 2A postseason late last week and, as expected, St. Edward will likely have to meet Immaculate Conception (22-3) for a third time if it is to win a second straight regional title. The Green Wave are the No. 2 seed at the IC regional and will open the postseason at 8 p.m. on Feb. 9 against No. 3 seed Luther North. IC, the No. 1 seed, plays the winner of the 4-5 game between Timothy Christian and Willows Academy at 6 p.m. that night and the title game is set for Feb. 11. The Wave lost to IC 46-42 in Elgin and they take on the Knights again in Elmhurst on Feb. 5, the last game of the regular season.
In Class 1A, Westminster Christian is the No. 4 seed in the Indian Creek regional. The Warriors open the postseason against No. 5 Mooseheart at 6 p.m. Feb. 8. A win would earn Westminster a semifinal date with top seed and defending Class 1A state champion Hinckley-Big Rock, which is 18-1 and ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 1A AP state poll.
Elgin Academy is the No. 1 seed in the North Shore Country Day regional and will open the state tournament against either Chicagoland Jewish or Chicago Waldorf on Feb. 10.
Online seeding meetings for the Class 3A and 4A postseason are this week and pairings should be released by the IHSA on Friday.
UEC race: The Upstate Eight race took a twist Saturday when St. Charles North handed St. Charles East its first UEC loss, leaving Waubonsie Valley as the only unbeaten team in the league. But the Warriors, who escaped Lake Park with a 46-45 win Friday, still have to play both North and East, as well as an improved East Aurora team. Bartlett can't be counted out of the race yet either. The Hawks have two UEC losses with Streamwood, South Elgin and Elgin remaining on their league schedule.
On tap this week: Bartlett (13-8) gets a good nonconference test at Glenbard West, also 13-8, tonight. On Wednesday, Cary-Grove tries to bounce back from its loss at Hersey on Saturday when the 19-2 Trojans, who are unbeaten in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division, host Crystal Lake South. Meanwhile, Jacobs tries to keep pace in the Valley when it plays at Huntley Wednesday night. On Saturday, Bartlett hosts Streamwood in a 1 p.m. UEC game, and St. Edward entertains Montini, the No. 1 ranked team in the Daily Herald Top 20 and in Class 3A. The Broncos come to town without UConn recruit Michala Johnson, who is out for the season (again) with a torn ACL.