Girls basketball/Scouting Fox Valley sectionals
Class 4A York sectional
Tonight's games: Fenwick (26-4) vs. Proviso East (28-2), 6 p.m.; Bartlett (28-1) vs. Trinity (27-4), 8:10 p.m.
Bartlett vs. Trinity
How they got here: Bartlett defeated Addison Trail 61-42 and Rolling Meadows 46-31 to win the Glenbard North regional; Trinity defeated Glenbard East 71-36 and West Chicago 58-39 to win the Trinity regional.
Outlook: There won't be any real rocket science involved when the Hawks and Blazers tip it off tonight. They are up-tempo teams who thrive and survive with defense, and they're both having great seasons. While Bartlett's only loss came to Fenwick, 64-47 in the Dundee-Crown Christmas tournament, Trinity has played a monster schedule and only lost to Bartlett (61-50 at Thanksgiving), Whitney Young, Loyola and Marian Catholic. Fifth-year coach Ed Stritzel's club just won the program's ninth straight regional title.
"There's nothing new going on now," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "You just go out and play. We won't do anything fancy. Hopefully our good defense will be with us. We're ready and we've been working for this. We're excited and we're prepared. The kids are confident and I know they'll work hard and give their best effort."
That's been pretty good for 28 out of 29 games this season but this will be the fifth-ranked Hawks' toughest test since their back-to-back games with Fenwick and Geneva. Trinity brings everything to the floor Bartlett does and that 11-point Bartlett win in November means little now.
"They have good drivers and shooters but we've seen a lot of different looks from a lot of different teams this year so we're prepared," Sarna said.
The GCAC champion Blazers are led by junior post Megan Podkowa, who had 24 points in the win over West Chicago and has led her team in scoring all year. Sophomore Taylor Nazon has double-digit potential every night, as does TaRicka Linzy, and the defense is led by Divinity Brown. Stritzel plays 9-10 players every game.
"The Podkowa girl is their consistent big scorer and she's a very big factor in their game plan," Sarna said. "We'll have to limit her touches and keep her off the boards."
Offensively, Sarna's team has relied on its balanced scoring more and more as the season has gone on. Senior Wisconsin recruit Jacki Gulczynski still leads the team at 14.1 ppg (and 7.2 rebounds per game) but juniors Haley Videckis and Kristin Conniff are at 10.5 and 10.3 respectively, senior Christina Carlson 6.6, junior Janessa Baker 6.1 and junior Lisa Palmer 5.7. Defensively, the Hawks only give up 44 points per game.
Sarna isn't concerned about the fact her team plays tonight's second game and if Fenwick wins the opener, it means Bartlett will know it has a shot to avenge its only loss with a win.
"We've worked very hard to make the kids understand it's one game at a time," she said. "They know how good all the teams in this sectional are. I think it's a wide open sectional that any of the four teams can win."
Fenwick vs. Proviso East
How they got here: Fenwick defeated Schaumburg 62-44 and Hoffman Estates 50-43 to win the Hoffman regional; Proviso East defeated Proviso West 47-35 and Wheaton North 54-49 to win the Glenbard West regional.
Outlook: The Friars are the defending sectional champion, the top seed and the team to beat but they haven't been so smooth lately. After losing to Marist and Marian Catholic to end the regular season, Fenwick struggled to get past Hoffman Estates in the regional final. But something about Hall of Fame coach Dave Power tells you his team will be ready to play tonight, against a Proviso East squad the Friars beat 60-57 to win the Niles North Thanksgiving tournament. East's only other loss is a 64-60 setback to Trinity.
Fenwick, which is in a sectional for the 16th straight year, is led by Lehigh recruit Sarah Williams.
Illinois fans can get a glimpse of the future in Proviso East, whose top player is Illini recruit Ivory Chambers, a 5-9 guard who had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the regional final. The Pirates are big, too, with 6-3 junior Jakeish Wells leading a strong board attack at 6.1 per game.
Advancement: The winners meet Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. for the sectional title and a berth in the Loyola supersectional next Monday opposite the Maine East sectional winner.
Class 4A Jacobs sectional
Tonight's games: Cary-Grove (26-3) vs. Huntley (20-8), 6 p.m.; Geneva (23-6) vs. Hononegah (28-3), 8:10 p.m.
Cary-Grove vs. Huntley
How they got here: Cary-Grove defeated Larkin 50-19 and Streamwood 50-29 to win the Dundee-Crown regional; Huntley defeated McHenry 38-36 and DeKalb 40-34 to win the Huntley regional.
Outlook: The Fox Valley Conference Valley Division champion Trojans and runner-up Red Raiders meet for the third time this season and Huntley coach Steve Raethz would clearly like to see this game be more like the teams' first meeting in Cary than their second one in Huntley. C-G had to come back to beat Huntley 58-52 on Jan. 16 and then rolled over the Raiders, who were playing without senior standout Carly Goede, 59-18 on Feb. 4.
"Those first two games don't mean much now," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "We'll both try to take away each other's strengths and we know what those are."
Cary-Grove's, simply, is getting big nights inside from sisters Claire and Olivia Jakubicek, and Huntley's is hitting 3-pointers at will. But these two teams also emphasize defense, as witnessed by their regional scores.
"It's going to be a tough test," said Raethz. "We hope to come in and take care of some things on our end. We need to rebound on both ends, we need to take care of the basketball and maximize our possessions, and we can't give up transition baskets. If we do those three things then hopefully we'll be in a position to contend."
Cary-Grove's sparkling season, which now includes 13 straight wins, has been one to remember. The Trojans came into the season with eight talented players but only eight. They have managed to stay injury-free, sans a few games of Olivia Jakubicek sitting out with ankle tendinitis.
"This time of year we're getting some rest and we're getting some practice time so we're very confident, and I'm sure Huntley is too," Saffert said. "It's been awesome. We've had some great teams here but these kids know what they have to do and they just go out and do it."
The Trojans' bread and butter is the scoring of 6-foot senior post Claire Jakubicek, the NIU signee who averages 19.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. But the steady play of senior point guard Meg Straumann (9.6 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.9 spg) is as important to making Cary-Grove go as is Jakubicek's scoring. Sophomore Olivia Jakubicek averages 8.2 points and 5.7 rebounds, junior Paige Lincicum scores 7.2 per game and the Trojans' stingy defense allows just 36.5 points per night.
Huntley, meanwhile, is happy to have Goede back from her ankle injury as she and fellow seniors Kadie Lowery and CeCe Tsevas. Lowery, who has 41 3-pointers, leads the team in scoring at 13.2, Goede (51 3-pointers) is at 11.9 ppg and Tsevas (26 3-pointers) is at 7.3. Senior Rachel Chapius also chips in 6.4 ppg. The Red Raiders have made 130 3-pointers as a team this season.
"Anytime you can bomb 3s like they can you're always in a game," Saffert said.
Raethz would like to see not only the effort his team showed in its first game against Cary-Grove but in the regional as well.
"At their place I thought we played very well for three full quarters," he said. "I really liked our effort that game and hopefully we can do the things we did well in that game. It's going to take a good solid defensive effort but I liked how we played defense against DeKalb and we'll need to repeat that effort."
Geneva vs. Hononegah
How they got here: Geneva defeated St. Charles East 82-45 and St. Charles North 52-31 to win the St. Charles East regional; Hononegah beat Harlem 85-41 and Rockford Auburn 71-68 to win the Boylan regional.
Outlook: Geneva, which has two straight sectional titles, is riding an 8-game winning streak. The Vikings last lost to Fenwick, 61-44, on Jan. 25 but they were without junior scoring threat Ashley Santos. Senior guard Kat Yelle (17.6 ppg) leads Geneva's scoring.
Hononegah, the NIC-10 champion, will likely be without 6-4 Nicole Smith (Wisconsin recruit), who missed the regional and several other games this season with a bad ankle. But the Indians have one of the state's top scoring threats in all-stater Brea Edwards, the Boylan transfer who lit up Geneva for 25 points in last year's sectional final. Edwards scored 28 and 29 in Hononegah's two regional wins.
Advancement: The winners meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the right to play in next Monday's Barrington supersectional against the winner of the Mundelein sectional.
Class 3A Burlington Central sectional
Monday's result: Belvidere North 55, Aurora Central Catholic 22
Tonight's game: Hampshire (27-2) vs. Montini (31-1), 7:30 p.m.
How they got here: Hampshire defeated Sycamore 57-41 and Rochelle 48-31 to win the Sycamore regional; Montini downed Wheaton Academy 70-21 and St. Francis 74-34 to win the St. Francis regional.
Outlook: A Hampshire win tonight would be an upset of monumental proportions. In fact, anyone in 3A beating Montini this season will be considered an upset. The Broncos are the defending state champs and their only loss this season is to defending 4A champ Bolingbrook. Montini is seeking its seventh straight sectional title.
So while it might not be Hickory against South Bend Central, it is definitely a huge challenge for Hampshire, which reached a sectional final last season.
"We're excited for the opportunity," said Hampshire coach Ed Haugens. The girls have been working real hard and we know we'll have to play our best game of the season. We'll just have to make smart decisions, keep our turnovers to a minimum and limit their fast breaks and easy baskets."
Montini has made 231 3-pointers this season and the Broncos shoot 34 percent from 3-point range, but they were just 2 of 15 in the regional final. Point guard Whitney Holloway (14.3 ppg), Whitney Adams (10.9 ppg) and Kiki Wilson (11.7 ppg) each have over 50 3-pointers this season. Senior Kasey Reaber is playing in her third straight sectional, but for her third school. She won state as a sophomore at Driscoll and led Immaculate Conception to a sectional final last year.
Seniors Alex Dumoulin (16 ppg, 10 rpg) and Karla Vietinghoff (12 ppg) lead the Whip-Purs and classmate Jessie Van Dorin now has over 150 career 3-pointers, including 77 this season. Junior point guard Grace Jakubowski has steadily played better at the position all season.
"We're not going to lie to our kids," said Haugens of his approach to the game. "These kids understand there are things we can to do benefit us but it's going to take hard work and focus. (Montini is) human. We can't come out nervous and that will be the key thing. Getting off to a goos start would be beneficial for us."
Advancement: The winner of tonight's game plays Belvidere North at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the sectional title, with that winner advancing to next Monday's Hoffman Estates supersectional to play the winner of the Grayslake Central sectional.
John Radtke