Girls basketball: Kuzmanic, Reibel families come together for unique event, good cause

It was a special day of girls basketball at Lake Park's West Campus High School on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Not only was the 'Coaches vs. Cancer' event a fundraiser for cancer, it also brought together two families who have strong ties to the sport.

Of the six teams involved in the three-game shootout, three were coached by sisters — Stephanie Kuzmanic of New Trier, Deanna Tuttle of Maine West and Kellie Brasse of Wheeling), two by brothers (Bobby Reibel of Lake Park and Brad Reibel of Hoffman Estates) and one by the brothers' cousin (Jonny Reibel of Jacobs).

"I never imagined they'd all get to play against each other or coach together in a tournament like this," said Theresa Kuzmanic, the mother of Stephanie, Deanna and Kellie who all starred at Wheeling High School before successful collegiate basketball careers. "It's been exciting to watch and a lot of fun to see their coaching style and how they support each other."

On the other side of the court was Maureen Reibel, whose two sons Brad and Bobby starred at Prospect High School and nephew Jonny at Hoffman Estates.

"I never expected this but we are thrilled they can compete friendly against one another and that they stayed so close to their love of basketball," Maureen said. "We are proud of this event for them. It's a great idea and a real nice thing to do. When you sit and look at it on paper, it is kind of an amazing thing."

Amazing for sure that all six of them are head coaches at schools within a radius of 15 miles.

"I think it's probably one of the more unique things we've seen," said Bobby, who coached the host school Lancers (19-3) to a 42-28 victory over New Trier (8-14) in the final game of the day.

Jacobs (8-10) opened the action with a 52-23 triumph over Wheeling while Hoffman Estates followed with a 45-41 decision over Maine West.

Prior to the Hoffman Estates/Maine West matchup, all the players and coaches from the six teams took a photo together at near halfcourt.

Adding even more to the family affair is that Brad's wife, Drewann (Pancratz) and Stephanie Kuzmanic, were teammates for Carthage College's women's basketball team. Stephanie attended their wedding and Drewann sold raffle tickets for Monday's cancer fundraiser.

Brad was Prospect's Male Athlete of the Year at Prospect in 2012 (basketball and soccer) while Drewann was a basketball and volleyball standout at Schaumburg High where she earned the Daily Herald All-Area volleyball captain honor in 2008.

Drewann and Stephanie are also former Leyden girls basketball head coaches and Drewann is the Conant boys volleyball coach.

"One of my best friends is Drew's older brother Zach who I played basketball against at Schaumburg," Jonny Reibel added. "The Pancratz family has been friends with the Reibel family forever so we were at the wedding. It was great to be there and see everyone, like Drewann's brothers and their parents who are still good friends with my parents."

Even Hoffman Estates freshman Mia Przybylski, just one year removed from Eisenhower Middle School (Hoffman Estates), loved participating in Monday's special event.

"This was super, super fun," said Przyblyski, who led Hoffman with 16 points, 6 under her career-high of 22 against Jacobs in the season opener. "I was so glad we got the opportunity to come here and be a part of this to help raise money.

"It's crazy how we had all the siblings here who are head coaches. I would like to coach one day because I also like teaching people how to do things better."

The Hawks (11-10) have sure been better record-wise this winter, already racking up 2 more wins than they had in the last two seasons combined. Not to mention they are doing it with a roster including eight freshmen and three sophomores to start the season.

"It would be hard for us to get any younger," Brad Reibel said with a smile. "They're a competitive group which has worked really hard in the off-season as well as the regular season. I thought we probably played our best game of the season today and it's cool to see their growth from the first game to where they are at now. I was really proud of their effort today."

Przybylski scored 9 points in the fourth quarter, including one of her two 3-pointers.

"Mia played really well down the stretch," Brad Reibel said. "To be honest, I thought a lot of girls stepped up and made big plays for us."

Sophomore Nadia Thomas added 7 points for the Hawks, followed by freshman KK James with 6. Freshmen Bella Benitez, Anna Sankey and Kaleah Ward each chipped in 4 while junior Molly Bell had a 3-pointer.

"We have a lot of team bonding," Przybylski added. "And we are jelling really well."

"Hoffman is a good team," said Maine West coach Deanna Tuttle, whose team was led by junior Alyssa Philip (12 points), senior Kaitlyn Nutley (9) and freshman Dayliana Rodriguez (6). "You've got to give them a lot of credit. They played super hard and outplayed us intensity wise, that first half for sure (MW trailed by 12 points with 1:37 left in the second quarter).

"We didn't come out ready to play defense and they took advantage. When our shots aren't falling, we expect to play defense. But we didn't do that until the second half when we picked it up to help us get back in the game. Unfortunately, you have to play a full game to win."