Lindfors matches up with the best of them

Three years ago, Courtney Lindfors was a transfer student to Elk Grove High School when Driscoll High School closed its doors.

After an all-area season with the Grenadiers, Lindfors made another transfer — to Division I college basketball.

And last month, she was going against the best of the best in the sport.

Lindfors and her Wisconsin-Milwaukee team went up against top-ranked Baylor (15-0) on Dec. 8.

That meant the 6-foot-4 sophomore Lindfors got to match up with 6-8 junior standout Brittney Griner, who was named the nation’s No. 1 high school women’s basketball player by Rivals.com. in 2009.

“Oh my God,” said Lindfors, who was in town Saturday night to watch her freshman sister Amber, an Elk Grove freshman, play against Hersey. “It was awesome. Just being in their facility (7,066 at Baylor’s Ferrell Center) and going up against Brittney Griner was so exciting.

“She’s probably the best post in the nation. To get the opportunity to face her and learn against her will definitely help in the future.”

Griner scored a game-high 20 points in a 72-41 win, and committed three fouls. Two of Griner’s fouls sent Lindfors to the free throw line.

Lindfors finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds. Baylor’s 72 points were their fewest in their first 12 games.

Lindfors is leading the Panthers this season with a 14.4 scoring average in 13 games and is second on the team with 81 rebounds.

In a recent 88-53 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay (13-0 3-0 in the Horizon League, Lindfors paced Milwaukee (4-9, 0-3) with a double-double, scoring a team-high 20 points and adding a game-best 10 rebounds.

Softball

Elk Grove senior Devan Parkison, who has been the Grens catcher for the past two years, has committed to the University of Chicago to play softball.

Parkison has been an all-conference and all-area player for each of the past two seasons for coach Ken Grams.

Men’s basketball

Sophomore Alan Aboona (St. Viator) collected 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds and he assisted on the winning shot for Washington University in St. Louis in a dramatic 67-66 victory over Elmhurst.

After 2 free throws gave Elmhurst a 1-point lead with four seconds left, the Bears threw the ball to half court and called a timeout.

Washington then ran the final play to perfection as Aboona came off a screen at the top of the key, took one dribble, and fired a pass to Dylan Richter for the game-winning shot.

The senior guard nailed an 18-foot jumper from the corner as time expired for the win at Elmhurst.

Ÿ Lewis senior Chris McClellan (Wheeling) scored 15 points, going 5-for-6 from long range, in a 90-59 nonconference win over Trinity Christian at Neil Carey Arena.,

Over a period of four games in December, McClellan shot 72.2 percent (13-for-18) from 3-point distance. McClellan owns one of the top 3-point field goal percentages in the Division II.

Football

Grant DePalma (Prospect), a freshman linebacker at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, Ind.), earned honorable mention honors on the all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football team. He had 50 tackles with 2 fumble recoveries and a blocked punt for the 5-5 Fightin’ Engineers.

Men’s soccer

Robert Morris sophomore forward Gordy Gurson (Stevenson) was named to the 2011 NAIA Men’s All-Mideast Team.

Gurson also was named an NAIA All-America Honorable Mention as he made an immediate impact for the Eagles after transferring from Memphis.

Among all NAIA players, Gurson ranked 12th in goals (18) and 16th in points (40).

The Buffalo Grove native was the 2011 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year and he led Robert Morris to its first CCAC regular-season title.

“Gordy was an excellent addition this year and he was a pleasure to coach,” Robert Morris head coach Jake Truty said earlier this month in a release. “He molded with the team quite well and was able to perform with our returning players. He is explosive, creative and can make big plays when needed.”

Gurson started his collegiate career at Memphis in 2010, where he scored 3 goals and 2 assists in eight games off the bench. The highlight of his Memphis tenure included a hat trick against Alabama A&M.

Ÿ Loras College sophomore midfielder Kevin Cavers (St. Viator) was named to the NCAA Division III All-North Second Team.

Cavers led the Duhawks with 10 assists this season while also tallying four goals in 23 games.

Loras won the Iowa Conference Tournament this season.

The Duhawks posted 17-3-3 overall record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Women’s basketball

Peggie Parhas (Lake Zurich/Harper College) scored a career-high 31 points for Roosevelt in a 110-44 win over visiting Stephens College. The senior is second overall in scoring for the 10-7 Lakers with a 13.6 average.

Men’s track and field

Augustana senior Mike Tisza (Hersey) won the Jack Swartz Award for men’s sports in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin for the second straight year.

The award is given to one male and one female athlete at the end of each athletic season. The award is named after the late Jack Swartz, who served as the Commissioner of the CCIW until his death in 1998.

This fall, Tisza was the linchpin of an Augustana team that was ranked in the top 20 of the NCAA Division III national rankings for most of the year. Tisza was selected as Augustana’s Most Valuable Performer by a vote of his teammates.

He qualified for the NCAA Division III national meet, making the field as an individual after placing 15th in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 12 at Saukie Golf Course.

Lacrosse

An informational meeting for the Arlington Falcons (formally Huskies) High School Boys Lacrosse Club will be held Saturday, Jan 28 at the Rolling Meadows Library (3100 Martin Lane) at 2 p.m.

This club is changing the name from Huskies to Falcons and is made up of high school players from the Northwest Suburbs, primarily District 214 high schools. There are a large number of players from Prospect, but the club is open to all high school boys. It competes in the NILAX league run by Lacrosse America. It is planning varsity and junior varsity teams. There are about 13 returning players but about 15 more are needed to field both teams.

For more information: the website is http://arlingtonhuskieslacrosseclub.webs.com/

Ÿ Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173