Garey, Sauser to take their place in IBCA Hall of Fame
Girls basketball has been an IHSA sport for a little over 35 years.
In the Fox Valley area, the sport didn't really take off until the mid-1980s when St. Edward's run of state trips, and its 1985 state championship, put the sport on the local map.
There were a handful of players back then whose contributions on the court gave girls basketball some validity. Tonight, two of those former players get to relive some high school memories when they're inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame at the IBCA's annual gala in Bloomington-Normal.
Beth Sauser and Donna Garey were known as Beth Hasenmiller and Donna Groh back then. They've long since married and started families, so out of respect for marriage and their husbands, we'll use their married names today.
Sauser is a more recognizable name to today's girls basketball fans. The St. Edward graduate, who went on to play at DePaul and then professionally in Europe, has been an assistant executive secretary of the IHSA for the past 11 years and she administers girls basketball for the state.
When I heard Garey was being inducted tonight, it made me wonder how many people outside of Streamwood remember the 6-foot standout who led the Sabres to a 1988 supersectional before going to on to a stellar career at Northwestern.
Boy, I sure do. Even though it resulted in a Streamwood loss, one chapter in the book of memories I'll write someday will be about being crammed into the bleachers of Batavia's gym in 1988 when Garey and the Sabres lost to York 52-49 in the Sweet Sixteen. It was the furthest on the tournament trail I had even covered a basketball team.
That Streamwood team was coached by George Rosner, an IBCA Hall inductee himself, who, of course, is still the Sabres' coach.
"Donna really put us on the map," said Rosner, who will present Garey her award tonight. "She was the single most influential player in Sabre history. Everyone knew about her and respected her and our program."
Garey played with some great players as well, most notably Chris Francke, who went on to play at DePaul, and Renee Kanak, who played at Lewis. Garey is the third leading scorer in Streamwood history with 1,527 career points, but Rosner points out that had her sophomore season not been cut short by mono, she would have been No. 1 on the scoring list. She also had 733 career rebounds and 166 blocked shots. In her three varsity seasons, Streamwood went 20-7, 19-8 and 26-4, winning the Upstate Eight title in 1987-88 as well as three regional crowns. Her senior year she averaged 26.8 points per game, still a Streamwood record for any boy or girl basketball player. She was a first-team all-stater on everybody's list.
"I have nothing but fond memories," said Garey, now married to the 6-foot-8 Brad, who played basketball at the Air Force Academy and with whom she's had three daughters.
"That York game still sticks out in my mind, of course. "That was a great team. We had a ton of fun and we all played together for a while so we knew each other real well."
Garey, who said she was surprised to be recognized by the IBCA after all these years, has made the trip home from San Diego for the ceremony. Her parents will attend as will a few of her five siblings. Her in-laws are flying in from Baltimore.
"This was a good excuse to come home," said Garey, who has been a pediatric physical therapist at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego the past five years after spending 10 years at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.
Tonight's ceremony will be held in what is now home for Sauser, whose record of 1,772 career points at St. Edward was broken by future IBCA Hall of Famer Katie Yohn in 2009.
Sauser's high school highlight came as a sophomore in 1985, when she led the Green Wave to the Class A state championship. The Wave then finished third at state in 1986. In 1987, Sauser's senior year, St. Edward was upset by Luther North in the supersectional after beating Burlington Central in the sectional finals, a game in which my sister Dawn holds as her basketball claim to fame because she outscored Sauser that night.
"I'm really excited," Sauser said of her induction. "I'm excited to see all the other inductees.
"I was lucky to have such great teammates and support from friends and family. It's fun to remember all that. You remember the good times ahead of the practices. But I'm very appreciative of all the hard work everybody put in with me."
The 1985 St. Edward team was inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame a couple years ago and Sauser has worked countless state championship affairs in her role with the IHSA. But she savors the memories of her high school days above all.
"No matter how many state championships I'm a part of I always have that memory of playing at state," she said. "I'll always have that."
And I'll always have the memory of being fortunate enough to see Garey and Sauser play when they were in high school. It was the time of life that through my sister and players like Garey and Sauser I came to appreciate girls basketball, and girls sports in general. The 25 years or so since then have just been icing on my cake.
Didn't forget you, Jim: Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle will take his place in the IBCA Hall of Fame tonight as well. The owner of over 400 high school wins who also coached at Elgin Community College, Hinkle won the 500th game of his career this past season. Congrats, Jim. Enjoy the evening.