Relief over Zion-Benton strike resolution

The resolution of the Zion-Benton teachers strike not only gets kids back in the class room, it also gets them back in the gym.

Several teams that were scheduled to play Zion-Benton in the last week had their games postponed because of the strike, which lasted four days beginning last Thursday.

The Stevenson girls basketball team was supposed to play the Zee-Bees on the first day of the strike. That game was canceled along with two other games for the Zion-Benton girls, including a game against Vernon Hills.

“This is something new because usually things like this happen at the beginning of the school year. I don’t ever recollect a strike in the winter,” Stevenson girls coach Tom Dineen said. “You just let it play out and hope it all gets figured out and you hope it doesn’t last too long.

“When you’re talking about missing games, when you start to miss too many, it puts everyone in a bind. There are only so many dates available to schedule make-ups. Our schedules are tight as it is.”

On the boys side, Zion-Benton missed two games, against Warren and Mundelein.

“It’s good that it’s been settled,” Warren boys coach Chuck Ramsey said. “When (a cancellation) like this happens in the second half of the season, it really limits the possibilities (for scheduling a make-up). But luckily, we were able to find a date.”

Both the Zion-Benton girls and boys team have now rescheduled all of the North Suburban Conference games that were postponed because of the strike.

The girls will play at Stevenson on Jan. 19 and will host Vernon Hills on Feb. 2. Meanwhile, the boys will play at Mundelein on Jan. 31 and will host Warren on Feb. 4.

Staying on task

Because of the Zion-Benton teachers strike, the Warren boys basketball team hasn’t played since last year. Last year, as in late December of 2011.

The Blue Devils last played on Dec. 30 in the third place game of the Pontiac holiday basketball tournament. Warren was supposed to play Zion-Benton in a North Suburban Conference contest last weekend, but that game was cancelled because the teachers strike had yet to be settled.

But even though they’ve had a 14-day layoff, the Blue Devils haven’t fallen too far out of their normal routine.

“It (the strike) didn’t really affect us all that much because we went through almost all of last week practicing as if we were going to play the game because we didn’t know for sure what was going to happen,” Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. “Then, when we didn’t play on Friday, we just did a lot of scrimmaging at practice that day instead. We did a lot of continuous five-on-five work, as if we were playing a game.

“We definitely need to get back on the court and back to playing games again, but we haven’t been too thrown off with all the time off.”

Shooting star, 1

It’s no wonder Stevenson senior guard Katie Batman is racking up the awards left and right.

She barely misses these days, particularly from her comfort zone. She’s shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point land.

For her efforts, Batman was named the most valuable player of the Maine West Thanksgiving tournament. She then followed that up with an all-tournament selection at the Suburban Holiday Showcase.

“When I first got (to Stevenson), Katie was a sophomore and we were trying to decide whether she should be a forward or a guard,” Stevenson coach Tom Dineen said. “When I saw her shoot and I saw her touch on the ball, I said, ‘Forget it … she’s a guard.’

“Katie has put in a lot of time and you can tell. She’s got a great shot, a quick release and she can also shoot off the dribble.”

Batman is averaging 17 points and has drilled 40 three-pointers in just 18 games.

“That’s a pretty good rate,” Dineen said of Batman’s success rate from beyond the arc. “She led the Maine West tournament in 3-point shooting and her numbers were similar over the holidays. A lot of teams focus their attention on Katie and she still gets her points.”

Shooting star, 2

Another player who is racking up the points is Grayslake North freshman guard Kendall Detweiler. Like Stevenson’s Katie Batman, Detweiler is hitting better than 40 percent of her 3-pointers.

Her hot shooting is a big reason the Knights are 13-4 and off to their best start in school history.

“She’s at about 43 percent on her threes, which is really good,” Grayslake North coach Jim Sarver said. “The great thing about Katie is that when teams start to creep out on her and make it tough for her on the perimeter, she is able to get herself to the basket for layups. She’s one of our top scorers.”

Fresh perspective

Green is already a prominent color at Stevenson. It’s one of the school’s colors.

But the girls basketball team is going even greener this season, moving three freshmen onto the varsity roster. Guard Taylor Buford has started the last several games while guard Sophia Way and forward Jackie Green are getting important minutes off the bench.

“They’re young, but they are three of the top 12 kids in our entire program, so you kind of just feel like they belong on the varsity,” Stevenson coach Tom Dineen said. “The way I see it, they’re going to be playing a lot as sophomores next year, so this is a valuable learning year for them. They aren’t playing as much as they would if they were down on the underlevels, but they are going up against really good kids every day in practice. It’s like they’re playing in a ball game every day. In the long run, that’s going to pay off.”

The freshmen are already paying dividends.

Buford has injected athleticism and aggressiveness into the Patriots’ lineup. Meanwhile, Green is a 6-footer who bolsters Stevenson’s inside game and Way is an explosive scorer.

“I check in with all of them every once in a while to make sure that they still feel comfortable and that they still feel like we made the proper decision to bring them up,” Dineen said. “They’re all doing great and I think it helps that they’re all good buddies. They kind of lean on each other.”