Team Kuzmanic eats up postseason success

If you looked at the Daily Herald’s all-area girls basketball team last Friday, you may have noticed two sisters on the team for the first time since Buffalo Grove twins Maggie and Allison Mocchi were on the 2008 team.

This year, senior Kellie Kuzmanic and freshman Deanna Kuzmanic helped steer Wheeling to its dramatic postseason run which saw the Wildcats become the only team in the history of the state girls basketball tournament make the Elite Eight with a losing record (15-19).

How important were the Kuzmanic sisters?

Well, look no further than the No. 14 Wildcat’s upset of No. 6 Zion Benton when Kellie and Deanna combined for 29 of their team’s 33 points in the last half, including the final 23.

Either Kellie or Deanna was the Wildcats’ top scorer in each game.

Suffice it to say, the all-area sisters provided plenty of Daily Herald clips to go up on the wall at T-Bobs Smoked BBQ in Des Plaines.

That’s where the sisters’ father, Bob, is co-owner along with his Amundsen High School buddy Teddy Roombos.

Bob has not only watched his daughters since they began playing at the age of 6, he’s coached them on Wheeling feeder teams.

And while Kellie and Deanna just missed a trip to the Class 4A state finals in Normal, their older sister Stephanie made it to Redbird Arena with Wheeling’s third-place finisher in 2009.

Stephanie now plays for Carthage College and she made it a busy weekend for Bob and his wife Teresa 10 days ago.

One day after Wheeling won the Palatine sectional title over Zion-Benton, Bob and Teresa took off at about 4 p.m. from T-Bob’s for Bloomington to watch Carthage win its semifinal of the College of Illinois and Wisconsin Conference tournament.

They returned that morning so Teresa could coach her Upward Basketball program from the Arlington Countryside Church, and then it was back to Bloomington to watch Stephanie in the ICWI championship against host Illinois Wesleyan.

Then, of course, they were at Stevenson the following Monday for the supersectional when Loyola need a fourth-quarter rally to just edge the Wildcats 43-41.

But the traveling was hardly over for Bob and Teresa.

They spent this past weekend watching the Division III sectional championship in Alliance, Ohio.

Stephanie was not to be outdone by her younger sisters and also wound up playing in an Elite Eight game.

She had 5 points, 4 steals and 3 assists in a 77-69 loss to No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan.

In the semifinal, Stephanie had 10 points and a game-high 9 rebounds in a 71-61 win over Centre College.

The Lady Reds’ most dramatic win came in the second round of the tourney when they trailed No. 4 DePauw 48-44 with under 2:30 left.

DePauw had its 26-game home winning streak snapped when Carthage scored the final 9 points of the game for a 53-48 win.

Kuzmanic had 5 of her team’s last 7 points, including the 3-pointer which gave the Reds the lead at 49-48.

DePauw had won 88 of its last 90 games in Green Castle.

Now, as we move on to spring sports, the Wheeling softball team wouldn’t mind making some headlines so it can see newspaper clips on a different restaurant wall.

The Wildcats head softball coach is Mike Caringella, who happens to own Armand’s Pizzeria in Arlington Heights.

Sports Notes has a suggestion for the music to play in the local eateries in early May.

There is an album coming out in early May.

The artist?

American Idol finalist and 2008 Wheeling grad Haley Reinhart, who happened to play a few years of softball for the Wildcats.

Quite a year

Former Daily Herald volleyball all-area honorary captain Drewann Pancratz (Schaumburg), who is now student teaching, had two terrific postseason runs in her final year at Carthage.

She helped lead the volleyball team to the Final Four in the Division III tourney last fall and was a member of the basketball team which reached the Elite Eight and enjoyed its best record in school history at 23-8.

Women’s basketball

Southwestern Illinois guard Janelle Cannon (Wheeling) scored 20 of her game-high 28 points in the second half as the Blue Storm rallied from a 12-point deficit for a 62-58 win over Olney Central College to win the Region 24 title. The win moves SWIC (27-6) into the NJCAA Division I national tournament on March 20-24 in Salina, Kan.

Baseball

Buffalo Grove senior Jimmy Pinakidis has verbally committed at Division 2 Upper Iowa in Fayette, Iowa. Upper Iowa University competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Pinakidis, a leadoff hitter and outfielder, is a two-year starter at BG. Over the last two seasons, he has scored 61 runs, 43 RBI, 67 hits, 28 walks, 4 home runs, and 22 stolen bases.

Pinakidis, who has a 4.40 GPA, was an all-conference selection last year in the Mid-Suburban League.

Men’s track

Ÿ Freshman Nick Batcha (Prospect) completed his indoor season at Ohio State with best times of 6.94 in the 60-meter dash and 21.86 in the 200 meters.

Ÿ Oakton’s Martin Chavez, Kenny Alferes and Haider Sheikh competed at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships March 2-3 at Eastern Illinois University.

All are graduates of Maine West.

Martin finished 13th in the nation in the 1,000-meter run (2:36.57) and 19th in the 800-meter run (2:01.87). Kenny completed the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:43.98 to capture 19th place, and Haider secured 30th in the 1,000-meter run (2:44.64).

Lacrosse

Carthage senior Michelle Tumberger (St. Viator) was named a Midwest Women’s Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week.

Tumberger combined for 11 ground balls in the Lady Reds’ two games. She finished with 10 in the win against Birmingham-Southern to open the season.

Women’s pro soccer

Former Elk Grove High School standout Jen Buczkowski has signed with the Chicago Red Stars for the 2012 season.

A three-year veteran of Women’s Professional Soccer, the 26-year-old began her professional career with Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey) in 2009 where she won a WPS championship.

After that, she was a two-year starter with WPS’ Philadelphia Independence, helping that team reach the 2011 WPS championship final after appearing in every minute of each match during the regular season.

She played three years for Elk Grove High School and was named the Gatorade Illinois High School Player of the Year in 2003.

Buczkowski was selected to join the U.S. youth National Teams at various levels.

Her Notre Dame teams still hold many school records.

She was an integral part of one of the most successful classes in NCAA college history, logging a 92-8-3 record with the Irish and the 2005 NCAA national championship.

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