Gofron gets a shot at starting

A year ago, Antioch girls basketball coach Tim Borries was excited about the potential of a freshman guard.

This year, same thing.

In an unfortunate twist, however, the new freshman, Lindsey Gofron, is replacing the old freshman, Andi Potkonjak, as the Sequoits' starting point guard.

Potkonjak, who entered the season full of promise after earning all-conference honors last season, tore her ACL in Antioch's opener against Cary-Grove, ending her season.

"Three minutes and 19 seconds into the game," Borries said. "She went up for a jumpshot, came down and heard a pop."

Potkonjak has been doing physical therapy on her wounded knee in preparation for reconstructive surgery, which Borries thinks might happen over Christmas break.

Borries had intended Gofron, a 5-foot-6 guard, to play a lot of minutes this season, but when Potkonjak went down, he thrust the freshman into the starting point-guard spot.

No small task for Gofron, mind you, considering the Sequoits were - and still are - expecting to build on last season's 13-win campaign.

All things considering, Gofron has handled the added responsibility of running the offense quite well. She was Antioch's lone all-tournament selection at Geneva and heads into Saturday's 2:30 p.m. game at Round Lake averaging a team-best 11.3 points per game for the 3-3 Sequoits.

Gofron has shown an ability to create her own shot off the dribble and elevate before she releases the ball.

She had 11 points and 5 assists in Tuesday's 47-46 win at Grant, but also missed 3 free throws in the pivotal fourth quarter.

"She's growing into the point-guard role," Borries said. "She has a lot to learn, but I'll live with the mistakes. She plays hard.

"I can't be more proud of her. She'll be OK."

Changing of the guards? It might be too early to say Warren (North Suburban Lake) and Grant (North Suburban Prairie) won't successfully defend their division championships, but each team already has suffered a significant loss.

When Antioch defeated Grant 47-46 Tuesday night in the two teams' divisional opener in Fox Lake, it snapped the Bulldogs' 30-game NSC-Prairie winning streak.

Grant's last divisional loss occurred nearly three years ago, when the Bulldogs fell to North Chicago 63-55 on Jan. 7, 2006.

Grant won its last six divisional games that season, then posted back-to-back 12-0 campaigns.

The Bulldogs graduated their entire starting five - all of whom played three years on varsity - and coach Tom Oeffling stepped down following the season to focus on a school administrative position.

Warren, meanwhile, entered the season with a 40-game winning streak in the NSC Lake.

The Blue Devils - who graduated four starters, including Division I recruits Sarah Boothe (Stanford) and Lory Shaw (UW-Green Bay) - lost their divisional opener Tuesday night to Lake Zurich 49-33.

Before that, Warren's last NSC-Lake loss was on Jan. 18, 2005 - Boothe's freshman year - when the Blue Devils' dropped a 56-49 decision at Mundelein.

Warren won its last four games that season, then went 12-0 in the division the next three seasons.

Mending Wildcats: Libertyville has rebounded from a 1-4 start to win its last two games. Now, the Wildcats might be getting closer to adding two healthy bodies.

Senior guard Haley Walton - not to be confused with her identical twin, Hannah - was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her foot almost four weeks ago and has not played this season.

According to coach Kathie Swanson, Walton's original injury was thought to be a sprain to her ligament. She rested it for a while and then came back. The problem flared up again after the first week of practice.

Swanson added that no particular drill or scrimmage caused the flare-up. The doctors believe the stress from playing soccer and basketball is probably responsible.

Walton is supposed to see the doctor early next week to get re-examined. The original prognosis was that she would miss a minimum of four weeks, Swanson said.

Senior forward Maka Stewart, meanwhile, recently received clearance to do light scrimmaging and work in 3 v. 3 scenarios, Swanson said.

Stewart - who's recovering from an ACL injury - has been shooting, cutting and conditioning. However, she still hasn't received full clearance to play.

"I don't have a definite answer as to when that will occur," Swanson said. "We are hoping to have her back by the end of the month."