Scouting the Class 4A state semifinals
Class 4A state semifinals
Bartlett (31-1) vs. Whitney Young (32-0)
When: 6:30 p.m. today at ISU’s Redbird Arena, Normal
How they got here: Bartlett defeated Glenbard West 63-25 and Schaumburg 58-40 in the Bartlett regional then downed West Chicago 52-46 and Wheaton Warrenville South 54-51 in overtime to win the Hoffman Estates sectional. The Hawks then downed DeKalb 48-30 to win the Elgin supersectional. Whitney Young defeated Morton 87-25 and Proviso West 61-39 to win the Proviso West regional, then downed Proviso East 69-34 and Trinity 50-45 to win the Lyons sectional. The Dolphins then beat three-time defending state champion Bolingbrook 74-65 in 4 overtimes in the Hinsdale Central supersectional.
The coaches: Bartlett’s Denise Sarna is in her 14th year at the school with an overall record of 262-154. In 19 years as a head coach she ios 282-262. Young’s Corry Irvin is in her 11th year at the school with a record of 298-45.
State tournament history: Bartlett is in its second state final tournament. The Hawks finished second in Class AA in 2005. Young is in the state tournament for the eighth time in program history and seventh under coach Corry Irvin. The Dolphins have finished fourth once (last year), third twice (2005, 2006), second twice (2009 and 2010) and won the 2008 championship.
Last time: Bartlett and Young have met once before, in 2005 when Taylor Snider’s buzzer-beater won it 55-53 for Young in front of 1,700 fans at Bartlett.
Scouting Bartlett: The Hawks come to Redbird with an 8-game winning streak and survived tough sectional tests before winning by 18 in the supersectional. With eight seniors, this state appearance culminates a four-year varsity career for several of them, a span in which Bartlett is 97-24.
The Hawks’ scoring leaders all season have been Indiana recruit Haley Videckis (18.3 ppg, 72 3-pointers) and her 6-foot mate Kristin Conniff (14.7 ppg, 50 3-pointers). Lisa Palmer (6.2), Katie Gutzwiller (6.1) and Janessa Baker (5.9) contribute to the offense. Baker came up with a big 15-point game in the supersectional win. The play of seniors Ashley Johnson (5.4 ppg) and Nicole Gobbo has been instrumental off the bench as well.
Palmer (6.2) and Videckis (6.0) are the Hawks’ leading rebounders, while Baker leads the team in assists.
Scouting Whitney Young: The Dolphins come into the state tournament the No. 1 ranked team in Illinois and No. 2 in the nation by USA Today. They likely won’t be No. 1 even if they win this weekend as St. Mary’s of Phoenix has already won the Arizona state title.
Young is led by 5-6 junior guard Janee Thompson, a Kentucky recruit who averages 18.5 points per game and has 64 3-pointers. She had 34 points in the Dolphins’ supersectional win and has hit for 29 two other times this season. Linnae Harper (5-8 junior guard, 19.0 ppg) and 5-10 senior Alexis Lloyd (5-10 senior guard, 16.0 ppg, 32 3-pointers, Virginia Tech signee) give Young a tough trio to stop.
The Dolphins’ other starters are 6-5 sophomore center Khaalia Hillsman (6.0 ppg) and 5-10 senior Tessa Haldes (4.0 ppg). Junior Sydney Stower (4.6 ppg), sophomore Taylor Brame (8.0 ppg) and freshman Tanita Allen (5.8 ppg) see significant time off the bench.
Outlook: Bartlett coach Denise Sarna is well aware of her team’s task at hand, but don’t think the Hawks will be intimidated by Young’s spotless record and lefty ranking. Sarna does admit, though, that the role of underdog is new for her team this year.
“It’s a little different for us, that’s for sure,” she said. “We’re not used to that role. We know all about their national ranking. They’re very good. They’re high powered, they play with high energy and they’re well-coached. They have the experience down here as well.”
That was not a concession speech.
“That’s why you play the games,” Sarna said. “We’ve told our kids all year to come out and play hard and give your best effort every night and no matter what you’ll be winners. That’s worked pretty well so far and we’ll take that same approach for this game.”
That said, Sarna knows her team will have to catch some breaks and play its best game of the season to be playing for the state championship Saturday night.
“A big key to the game is to limit their easy baskets and make them work for their shots,” said Sarna, repeating what many coaches agree is also the key to beating Bartlett. “We have to take care of the ball and not give up easy baskets. They like to attack the basket so we’ll have to limit their visits to the paint. Nobody makes every shot so we’ll have to be there to rebound the misses and we’ll have to play a solid team defensive game.”
While Sarna didn’t feel her team played its best in the sectional, when the Hawks made just 36 of 94 shots, she also thought those close games helped the Hawks in the 18-point supersectional win.
“We didn’t play complete games in the sectional and we didn’t shoot well,” she said. “But we were under a lot of pressure and we answered.”
And don’t think for a minute the Hawks are just happy to be here.
“We’ve watched game film and we’ve seen (Young) play,” she said. “We know what we’re up against but we’re not down here just for fun. We want to compete. We have to fire on all cylinders and when we do we’re a pretty good team. To win a state championship you have to do that.”
On the Young side, preparing a team to play in Redbird Arena is old hat for Dolphins’ coach Corry Irvin, the Larkin graduate who has turned Young into one of the best high school programs in the country. And she’s not the least bit concerned about her kids being complacent after finally beating Bolingbrook after three straight years of losses to the Raiders.
“I don’t think we have that,” Irvin said before her team’s shootaround at Redbird Thursday. “The girls are focused on their goals and we’re not overlooking Bartlett at all.”
Irvin draws a lot of parallels to her team and the Hawks.
“I know they like to get up and down, run and shoot 3s,” she said. “I’ve heard they play a lot like us.”
Irvin also says she doesn’t sense her team is feeling any pressure of being undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the country.
“We didn’t even talk about being undefeated until the start of the state tournament,” she said. “We talk more about wanting to end the season with a win or a loss. These kids believe in each other. They’re really strong kids and they work well together. They find ways to win. A lot of people didn’t expect us to make it back down here this year but our goals are different than other people’s expectations.”
Loyola (26-7) vs. Edwardsville (33-1)
Outlook: Friday’s second semifinal pits two-time state champion Loyola (1997-98) against an Edwardsville team that lost to Bolingbrook in ther supersectional round the past three years.
Loyola, which ended Wheeling’s magic carpet run in the Stevenson supersectional, is led by junior guard Anna Schueler (11.3 ppg). The Ramblers have no 6-footers and their main players are all under 5-10.
Edwardsville, coached by the legendary Lori Blade (505-77, 2001 and 2002 Class A state titles at Carrollton), has lost this season only to Class 2A state champ Quincy Notre Dame, but did not play a school north of Champaign prior to beating Marist 48-41 in the Illinois Wesleyan supersectional. The Tigers are led by all-state junior forward Emmonie Henderson (15.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg), who is the reigning Class 3A state champ in the shot put and discus.