Lake girls basketball notes: Wauconda, Grayslake Central enter 2025 with momentum

The Wauconda girls basketball team continues to make headlines on the court.

Coach Jaime Dennis’ squad is fresh off winning the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic hosted by McHenry in mid-December. The Bulldogs upended Larkin 51-38 in the third round and edged Crystal Lake Central 49-45 for the title.

A Northern Lake County Conference win over Grant prior to Christmas pushed the Bulldogs to 11-1 overall (4-0 NLCC) and ran their winning streak to 8 games in a row. Wauconda plays at league co-leader Grayslake Central on Friday.

Grace Parker, Kelsy Piehl and Alexia Manalo were three key reasons among many as to why the Bulldogs left McHenry with first-place hardware. Parker led the team in scoring there with 57 points over the 4 games, while Piehl averaged 10 points a game and hit clutch foul shots at the end of the Crystal Lake Central title game to seal it. Manalo averaged 4.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.8 deflections and 4 steals a game at McHenry.

“Alexia played solid defense throughout the tournament,” Dennis said.

Dennis also pointed out Wauconda is excelling due to its prowess on the boards and in the assists column. The Bulldogs average 15 offensive rebounds and 20 defensive rebounds per game. “We focus on trying to control the boards in the game,” she said.

On the getting everybody involved front, Wauconda averages 13 assists per game.

“The other big stat we talk about is assists,” Dennis explained. “We are sharing the ball and playing as a team.”

Grayslake Central update: Speaking of Central, hats off to Rams veteran Madison Hoffmann, who went over the 1,500 career-point barrier during the St. Viator Blenner Classic in Arlington Heights over the holidays.

Hoffmann was front and center in that tournament where Central went 3-1 and took third place. The Wisconsin-Green Bay pledge averaged 12.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals on her way to an all-tournament nod.

Her sister, Peyton, also starred at Viator, averaging 9.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals there.

“Madison and Peyton had great performances at the Blenner Classic,” said Central coach Steve Ikenn said, whose team was off to a 12-4 start (4-0 in Northern Lake County action). “Peyton played her usual great defense.”

The Rams held their four opponents at Viator to an average of 37.5 points per game. Central recorded wins at Viator against Glenbard West (45-39), Vernon Hills (49-38) and the hosts (40-32).

Antioch update: The Sequoits went 2-2 at the Lisle Cage Classic, finishing as consolation runner-up.

Heidi Rathmann earned all-tournament honors at Lisle after averaging 22.5 points per game. Rathmann posted a pair of double-doubles, including an 18-point, 12-rebound effort in the opener against Timothy Christian, and had 29 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks in the third game against Lemont. Rathmann is now averaging 15.7 points this season for Antioch (5-9, 2-2 Northern Lake County).

“Heidi had some nice scoring games in the tournament for us,” Antioch coach Jamie D’Andrea said. “It’s nice to see her settling in for this back half of the season.”

Enza Nawrocki had a season-high 14 points against Lemont and also registered 10 points against Timothy Christian at Lisle, while Scarlett Carroll had a pair of double-doubles with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Addison Trail at Lisle, and 12 points and 11 rebounds against Lemont.

Grant update: The Bulldogs played 4 games over the holidays at the Rockford Boylan tournament where Lily Capulong was highly notable. She had 21 points there against Woodstock Marian Central and 13 points against Sycamore. Capulong averaged 11 points at Boylan.

“Lily did a great job for us at the Christmas tournament,” Grant coach Andrea Weaver said. “She is a phenomenal ball handler.”

Grant started 2024 with a 2-12 overall mark (1-3 in Northern Lake County action).

Lakes update: The Eagles went 1-3 at the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic at McHenry and entered the new year 6-7 overall, but a strong 3-1 in Northern Lake County action, a game back of Wauconda and Grayslake Central to start the week.

Lakes defeated Grayslake North at McHenry, holding the Knights to 6 points in the second half (none in the fourth quarter).

Coach Grant Murray liked the way Kaylee Anderson, Adey Martin and freshman Ryan Horvath played over the holidays. Anderson led Lakes in scoring and rebounding, common occurrences throughout the season, Murray noted. Anderson has 2 double-doubles this season.

“Adey Martin has picked up her scoring recently along with being one of the top defenders on the team,” Murray added. “Ryan is a freshman and has been a top player off the bench by scoring, rebounding and playing great defense.”

In addition to Horvath, fellow freshman Brynn Skinner has been another top contributor for the Eagles.

Murray also has been pleased with Lakes’ efforts on the glass (40-30 rebounding edge per game).

Lake Zurich update: The Bears lost 51-39 to Loyola Academy in the title game at the Loyola Christmas tournament. Lake Zurich got down 18-6 early, but played the Ramblers even at 33-33 the rest of the way.

Lake Zurich (10-6 overall) made it to the final after wins against Chicago DePaul College Prep, Batavia and Hersey (in overtime).

Senior Molly Friesen was named to the all-tournament first team after posting 41 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists in the tournament. Junior Layne Nordstrom was named to the second team after finishing the four-game set with 19 points, 18 rebounds and 15 assists.

Coach Chris Bennett added that Avery Cooper also was a difference-maker for the Bears on the North Shore. She had 37 points, 28 rebounds and 8 assists in 4 games, “while dealing with a swarm of double-teams all game long,” he said. Cooper earned a player-of-the-game honor against Hersey.

The Bears start the back half of the North Suburban slate with a 3-2 mark.

Libertyville update: The Wildcats ended 2024 on a high note by winning their own Rustoleum Winter Classic with a 4-0 record. Libertyville downed Chicago Mother McAuley 51-41 to finish up the tournament and take the crown. The Wildcats also downed 10-6 Cary-Grove in the tournament.

Lily Fisher and Madison Sears earned all-tournament honors for the Wildcats (13-4), who were riding an 8-game winning streak to start the year.

Fisher averaged 14.2 points, 8 rebounds and had 25 assists against only 11 turnovers at Rustoleum, while Sears averaged 12 points, 4 rebounds and shot 58% from the field.

“Lily is playing the best basketball of her high school career as point guard and off-guard, and she’s defending well on the other end,” Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said. “Madison is becoming more and more essential to our offense. The more involved she is, the tougher we are to stop.”

Libertyville also was off to a 5-0 start in North Suburban action. Of note as well, Pedersen pointed out, has been the play of Sophia Swanson, who was the MVP in Libertyville’s recent win over Yorkville in the Grow the Game Showcase. She had 16 points and shot 7-for-11 from the floor.

Round Lake update: The Panthers played in both the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic at McHenry and the Hiawatha Holiday Tournament in Kirkland.

Sophomore guard Brianna Arteaga was named Hiawatha all-tournament. She had 20 points, including five 3-pointers, against Durand at Hiawatha.

“Brianna is finding her rhythm at both ends of the floor,” Panthers coach Molly Hennig said.

Lissette Herrera averaged 8 points, 5 deflections and 3 steals during the month of December. “Lisette is leading us as our point guard,” Hennig noted.

Layah Glover, a first-team all-state selection for Round Lake in flag football, is averaging 6 rebounds a game. “Layah is translating to basketball with her athleticism,” Hennig said. “(Her rebounding) has been huge, and (she) has been a leader on the court for us.”

Round Lake was 5-11 overall and 1-3 in Northern Lake County play to start the week.

Vernon Hills update: The Cougars finished seventh at St. Viator over the holidays, wrapping up play with a victory in that seventh-place game. A win over Normal Community at the Grow the Game event at Elk Grove recently pushed the Cougars to 11-7 overall (also off to a nice 3-1 start in Central Suburban North happenings).

At St. Viator, Anahya Castro was named to the all-tournament team. “Anahya has made steady improvement and it showed in our final three games,” Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. “She was good on both sides of the ball.”

Brettner noted Vernon Hills has been consistently getting more possessions than its opponents by winning the offensive rebounding and turnover battles.

“This keeps us in every game,” he explained. “When we add good shooting, things then go very well for us.”