Girls basketball: Scouting Grayslake North
GRAYSLAKE NORTH
Coach: Rob Nicoletti (first season)
Last season: 20-10, 11-1 in FVC Fox, lost to Mundelein in Class 4A Rolling Meadows regional semifinals
Key players lost: C Brittney Thibeaux (Minnesota State University Moorhead), G Kendall Detweiler, G Ashley Martineau, G Shannon Myers
Returning players: Sr. G Maggie Fish (5-7), So. G Sidney Lovitsch (5-7), Sr. G Sammie Villwock (5-7), Sr. G Cassie Friedman (5-4), Sr. F Ella Swanson (5-10), Sr. G Kayla Hartigan (5-9)
Newcomers: Fr. G Brandi Thibeaux (5-5), Fr. G Haley Leanna (5-7), Jr. G Kelley O'Brien (5-8), Jr. G Alyssa Gunn (5-7), Jr. F Abby Stinner (5-11), Jr. F Abby Rice (5-10), Jr. G Marissa Krebs (5-7)
Outlook: The Knights lost more than their top two players, guard Kendall Detweiler and center Brittney Thibeaux, from the last couple of years. Late in the summer, Nate Flannery accepted the assistant athletic director position at Deerfield. He had led the Knights to 46 wins in his two seasons as coach. In steps Rob Nicoletti, who's just 25 years old. Nicoletti played basketball at Lake Zurich (Class of 2007) for his future father-in-law, John Zarr. Now in his fourth year as a teacher at Grayslake North, Nicoletti, who married former LZ player Carly Zarr, was the Knights' sophomore boys coach the last two years. He didn't get the head girls job until August. Despite that, he's encouraged with how his girls are handling the adjustment. "They're doing a great job," Nicoletti said. "They're working their butts off every day. We're figuring things out - who's going to be scoring, who's going to be rebounding, stuff like that." In Detweiler (18.6 ppg) and Thibeaux (12 ppg, 7.2 rpg), the Knights graduated their Nos. 1 and 2 scorers. Detweiler finished as the program's all-time leading scorer (1,361 points). The Knights' most-experienced player is senior guard Maggie Fish, who made huge strides in her second season on varsity last winter. She produced a pair of 20-point efforts. Athletic guard Sidney Lovitsch started on varsity as a freshman last season. The newcomers include freshman guards Haley Leanna and Brandi Thibeaux, who's Brittney's sister. Thibeaux joined Fish, Lovitsch, senior Sammie Villwock and junior Kelley O'Brien in Nicoletti's season-opening starting lineup Monday at Mundelein's tournament. Fish started at the point. "We're trying to figure out who's going to step it up a bit," Nicoletti said. "It's a time of adjustment for everyone."