Coach: It's been quite a season for Titan girls basketball - and there's more to come
If you're a Titan girls basketball fan, it is hard not to get excited thinking about the future.
How good might the Titans be next year when the super sophomores - including Chloe Gonzalez, Anna Rosenberg, Christina Korompolas, Madison Luckey and more - have yet another year of experience? Add in freshman starter Gina Davorija, junior star Sidney Rogers, and a very talented group of JV and freshman players, and you could get a little giddy about what 2022-23 might bring.
"Not even thinking about next year," says third-year coach Scott Nemecek, throwing some cold water on those paragraph one thoughts about the future. "These girls are playing for success this year."
As well they should.
What a season it has been for the Titan girls: 17-8 as of this writing with an impressive 7-3 conference record, including big tournament championships at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The drama has been intense throughout, including pressure-packed wins over Glenbrook North and New Trier twice, and a recent thriller vs. Rolling Meadows, while others have been heartbreaking, tightly contested defeats to teams including Loyola, Maine South and Evanston.
Most importantly, though, through it all the team has progressed. The combination of senior experience and rapid growth of the young players has blended the girls into a well-oiled hoops contingent, and one that plays with a competitive nature on clear display all season long.
"Oh yeah," says Coach Nemecek, "these girls love to compete. They have a real passion for basketball, and they enjoy playing together. As a coach, it has been really fun to see this develop."
It is hard to feature just one player for GBS, as the team has multiple key contributors, but certainly veteran point guard Sidney Rogers stands near the top. We still remember back a few years ago when Sidney started for the varsity as a freshman and, considering her youth and slight build back then, other teams - and even Titan fans - were wondering what she was doing out there.
But that was before the game started. Once action commenced, those questions were answered quite proficiently. Then-freshman Rogers displayed uncanny toughness and fearlessness and stepped in from day one at the difficult point guard position.
Fast forward a couple years, and now Rogers is an experienced, confident junior who can handle the ball, shoot it from distance and has improved explosion when she drives to the basket, even seeking body contact now, which can send her to the free-throw line often.
Rogers can actually play off the ball a bit this year, because of the development of a burgeoning star in sophomore Chloe Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who also played up on the varsity as a freshman last year, has stepped into the point guard role and has done so with a court presence, confidence, understanding of the game and maturity that clearly belies her sophomore status.
Early in the season she was still finding ways to score consistently, but in games of recent, Gonzalez has been a leading score cranking out games in the high teens and even a few where she scored 20 points and more. Chloe can distribute the ball, make teammates better, shoot the threeball, and has developed a now deadly step in jump shot that opponents are rapidly putting on scouting reports.
Gonzalez's partner in crime - and fellow AAU teammate - is another sophomore, Anna Rosenberger. The last time we saw a Rosenberger on the Titan hoops floor, it was her brother Matt filling up the stat sheet for the boys team. Now it's Anna's turn, and she is yet another young star in the making for GBS. Rosenberger played up on the varsity as a freshman, and at 6-foot-1, she gives the Titans a badly needed presence on the inside. She scores and finishes on the inside, gets tough rebounds, and defends taller opponents.
Both Rosenberger and Gonzalez played for the Midwest Elite Travel team in the summer, which typically selects some of the top area players and plays a national schedule against some of the finest of competition. So, both of these girls are battled tested and have already been in plenty of big pressure packed games.
None of the youth movement works, though, without the conduit or the conductor. Senior Megan Flentye fills the role and plays with a spirited intensity that helps elevate the entire team. Flentye is the heart and soul of the squad, and one who didn't play too much last year, but she has started regularly this season and provided much needed leadership. She almost always guards the other team's best player, and her ability to get steals, tips and deflections drives opponents to oft-seen anguish.
The fifth starter is a freshman. Gina Davorija surprised everyone by earning the spot at the beginning of the season, and she has been unfazed in taking on the role. Someone maybe forgot to tell her she is only a freshman, because watching her play there is an uncanny confidence, and a certain "What? Me, worry?" body language to her game. Davorija can handle the ball at her guard position, and although still a bit inconsistent with her shot, when she gets hot, she can be a real threat to score.
The bench mob is ever present.
The super sub role is filled by another sophomore, Madison Luckey. When Luckey checks into the game things seem to happen - and almost always in a good way. She is instant energy and aggressiveness: She can score, defend, rebound and just generally disrupt what other teams are trying to do. Luckey has battled through a couple different injuries all season, but her contributions continue to be a big part of the Titan girls success.
Senior Anna Durow is another key performer off the bench. A team captain, she has been a solid steady influence when coming into games, rebounding, and defending while being just enough of a three-point threat to keep teams off balance. Her sister, cross country runner supreme Molly, is also a contributor.
A big surprise this year has been the contributions of sophomore Christina Korompolas. Korompolas, a softball player by trade, didn't even go out for the team last year, but decided to try out this year and has made an impact. Her overall athleticism, along with competitive instinct and enthusiastic style of play, has added yet another ingredient to the Titan depth of talent.
It has been four years since the GBS girls have won a regional, and to do so the Titans, along with parents and fans, will have to travel. They have been assigned as the No. 4 seed out of 16 teams and will head to York High School in Elmhurst, where they will first have to get by Niles North, followed by a likely match with the hosting Dukes for the championship.
The reward if they do win? Getting to play on their home court, as The Titan Dome will be the host site for the sectional.
"I know the girls would love to be able to do that," says Coach Nemecek. "To be able to compete in the sectionals while hosting and getting to play a Loyola, or maybe Maine South or Evanston has been one of our goals all season long. I know the girls will give it their best effort - there is no doubt about that."
First things first, though, as they have to take care of business at York.
And then who knows? An already great season might just get even a little better.
• Jon Cohn of Glenview is a coach, retired PE teacher, sports official and prep sports fan. To contact him with comments or story ideas, email jcsportsandtees@aol.com.