Burlington Central gets another shot at Hampshire
The Burlington Central girls basketball team knows exactly what it has to do to avoid a Hampshire clinching party in the Rockets' gym tonight.
"We just have to come in confident, play as a team and play with a lot of heart," said BC coach Stephanie Smith Thursday.
The novelty of the Smith coaching against her old school is gone from the first BC-Hampshire game, which Hampshire won 47-42 on Jan. 16. What remains from that game is the confidence Central (16-8, 6-2) has that it can play with Hampshire (22-1, 7-0) and, if they have their way, keep the Whip-Purs from clinching no worse than a share of their third straight Big Northern East title.
"If we play our game it can be anybody's game," said Smith, whose team has won 4 of 5 since the Jan. 16 Hampshire game. "Hopefully we left an impression on them at that last game. I think we match up well with Hampshire."
In that game the Rockets led by as many as 8 points early in the third quarter before Hampshire used a 16-0 run to go ahead and then hang on for the win. Senior Chrissy Heine led Hampshire with 17 points in that game while senior Taylor Colby led Central with 13.
"We're hoping to play better than we did the first time against them," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett, whose team had 27 turnovers in that game. "We've focused this week on some of the things we didn't do so well in that game. We have to take care of the ball better and make better decisions with our passes. We're aware now of their height and their physicalness."
A Hampshire win would only clinch a share of the league title. The Whips still have conference games at Richmond on Monday and a snowed out makeup against Marengo Feb. 12.
"This game definitely matters," Ellett said. "It's a big game and that's what you want at the end of the year."
And it might not be the last time the two rivals see each other this season. Burlington is the No. 4 seed in the Class 3A Rochelle regional and if the Rockets beat No. 5 Sycamore on Feb. 15, they will get another matchup with top-seeded Hampshire in the Feb. 17 semifinals.
Facing the best: Bartlett coach Denise Sarna has never been one to shy away from tough competition and the Hawks get that and then some Saturday when they travel to Geneva to face the undefeated Vikings Saturday at 6 p.m.
"We're at a point in the season where we're excited to play another top-ranked team," said Sarna of the Vikings, who are ranked No. 2 in the Daily Herald Top 20 and No. 5 in the latest AP Class 4A poll. "We've been playing real well and there are a lot of things out there for us to shoot for. We'd love to be a spoiler. Why not us? The kids are excited. It's a big game and it's a fun time of the season."
Bartlett will be facing a Geneva team that made it to the Final Four last year and has added Bartlett transfer Ashley Santos to the mix. But while Geneva, which will join the Upstate Eight Conference next season, has gone unbeaten, Bartlett is one of the hottest teams around, having won 7 straight.
"Our defense has improved as the season has gone on and we've done a better job of limiting our turnovers, Sarna said. "Our scoring distribution has been much more balanced and we've been doing a good job of finding open shots."
The Hawks have relied all season on the consistent scoring of 6-foot junior Jacki Gulczynski (16.5 ppg) but have also seen players like sophomore Haley Videckis (9.9), junior Christina Carlson (8.1) and sophomore Kristin Conniff (8.5) score more lately.
You can go home: Streamwood coach George Rosner, a 1967 graduate of St. Ignatius in Chicago, has coached girls basketball for over 30 years but never in his old gym. Rosner finally got that chance on Jan. 20 when he took his Sabres to the city and beat his alma mater 52-40.
"It's been kind of a dream of mine to go back and coach there," said Rosner. "It was neat. We took the kids on a tour of the school and there was some emotion to it for me."
St. Ignatius, which is over 120 years old, was an all boys school when Rosner attended there.
Kudos to Carl: Longtime Streamwood assistant girls coach and program supporter Carl Prose is this year's Sabre Athletic Ring of Honor recipient. The Ring of Honor was created to recognize community members that have made an impact on the success of Streamwood High School and its athletic programs. Prose will be recognized tonight in between the girls and boys varsity games against South Elgin.
"He came to the program in 1983 and he's been there ever since," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "He knows the game and he's good with the kids. He's invaluable for us and he's been very supportive. He's someone I can talk to and he provides a good sounding board."
In addition to being an assistant coach for Rosner over the years, Prose has kept the scorebook and managed the Junior Sabres program. An active member of the Streamwood Booster Club, all four of his children graduated from Streamwood and his daughter, Lynda Rundio, was a longtime assistant of Rosner's.
"Carl continues to be a huge asset to our athletic programs and the students of Streamwood High School," said athletic director Steve Gertz in a news release. "He is an all-around good guy and very deserving of this prestigious award."
Season's End: Streamwood will play its final game in the Season's End Tournament Monday at 6 p.m. against host Fenton in Bensenville.
Title night: The Fox Valley Conference Valley Division championship will be wrapped up tonight. If Cary-Grove beats Huntley at home and Jacobs wins at Dundee-Crown, the Trojans and Golden Eagles tie for the conference title, which would be the first conference championship in girls basketball for Jacobs.
It would have been easy for Jacobs to celebrate after beating Cary-Grove 39-37 on Cassidy Sherman's last-second layup Tuesday night but the Golden Eagles aren't about to look past District 300 rival Dundee-Crown, despite the fact Jacobs beat D-C 57-26 on Jan. 13 and the fact D-C hasn't won a Valley game this season.
"This is a great win for us," said Jacobs senior Maria Tamburrino after beating Cary-Grove. "Cary-Grove is an excellent team. But we still have one more game left in conference and we're looking forward to that."