Girls basketball: Todd finishes four years of winning big and standout play by leading Fremd to second place at state
During the COVID-19 year, Ella Todd was still playing basketball.
She was in the eighth grade at Immanuel Lutheran in Palatine.
"Since it was COVID, we weren't able to play in our regular league," said Heather Glaser, who was her Immanuel Lutheran coach and now serves as an assistant for Fremd coach James Han. "So we had to play in a more competitive league. We won the state feeder tourney and the national tournament in Indiana."
Things didn't change much once Todd got to the next level at Fremd High School.
She was still winning.
Todd helped lead the Vikings to the state finals the last two seasons, including last weekend's Class 4A state runner-up finish to No. 1 ranked Kenwood at Illinois State's CEFCU Arena in Normal.
But it wasn't about the points and rebounds for the Utah University-bound Todd, who scored more than 1,500 points in her stellar four-year career.
It was about playing the game she loved and winning with her teammates.
"I can't say I have a favorite part of basketball," said Todd, the repeat winner of the Daily Herald’s Cook County All-Area captain. "It's just the competitiveness part, being out there with my team and wanting to win."
And that's what she did under the late hall of famer Dave Yates for three years and Han this season, winning 118 games and losing only 23 with four Mid-Suburban West championships and two MSL titles.
"It's been great with Mr. Han," Todd said of her senior year in which she scored 630 points with 202 rebounds and 60 assists after collecting 538 points, 148 rebounds and 70 assists as a junior when she was also named All-Area captain.
"He was with us our first three years (assistant to Yates)," added Todd, a two-time MSL West Player of the Year and all-stater. "He has a ton of energy every day. He is super fun to be around and he makes things fun for us. At the same time, it was tough not having coach Yates. We are thinking about him and playing for him every day."
And not many can play like Todd, whose offensive skills were second to none in the northwest suburbs.
Getting past defenders is one thing she takes pride in.
"I'm constantly working and practicing getting to the basket with different moves," said Todd, who also played wide receiver for Fremd's state championship flag football team last fall. "I kind of figure it out as I go."
"Ella is very creative, and she has great footwork which is a huge thing," said Han, who was the starting point guard for Schaumburg's 2001 state boys basketball championship team. "But she works on it. This is not something that happens naturally. She watches film and she has gotten a lot stronger after the last four years. That allows her to play in those areas with lots of bodies around her.
"We feel very confident that any time she is in the lane she will find a creative way to be on balance while finishing around the rim through contact."
Todd also is dangerous outside the paint, tossing home 32 3-pointers this season.
"She can shoot the 3 so you can't just back off on her," Han added. "And she can post you up if she has a smaller player on her. She has a lot of tools in the bag to be able to score around the rim."
And , of course, she puts in the time.
"She is the hardest worker on the team and she has proven that and she loves that,“ Han said. "That's the thing, and the other part, she loves to play defense. You'll find a lot of players who want to shoot the ball and score but you won't find people who get up to play defense."
Glaser can testify to Todd's work ethic as well.
"She was one of the hardest workers we ever had," said Glaser, a former standout guard at Fremd for hall of fame coach Carol Plodzien. "She would stay late after practice. And she still comes to our gym and other gyms to practice.
"It's been a pleasure to coach her. To have players like Ella and Coco, (Urlacher, Vikings senior who also played on the national championship winning Immanuel Lutheran team) is why I'm coaching here at Fremd. They're such good kids. They put in all the extra work and they want to win. I like being around them."
And Todd's success all that goes back to one person.
Her mother Marisa von Brommsen-Todd, who set a record for 3-pointers when she was at Northern Arizona, was Ella's first coach while she was in elementary school.
"My mom is my No. 1 supporter," said Ella, whose sister Gracie will be a junior on the team next year and may take over Ella's No. 22. "She got me into basketball and she is always working with me, things like rebounding with me. She trains me and is the best coach I could ask for. I look up to her so much and she is my biggest role model, too."
Todd is also a model student , with nearly all A's this school year. She plans to study something finance related in Salt Lake City where she will play basketball for the University of Utah.
"I took an economics class last year and business class my freshman year," Todd said. "I'm kind of interested in that stuff. I like math, economics and dealing with money."
Well, you can bank on it.
Todd was one of the best to play the game at Fremd High School.