Broncos eager to see how they match up

The Montini girls basketball team looks forward to taking the big stage of the 18th annual McDonald's Shootout, which takes place today, Saturday and Monday at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park.

"It's a great opportunity for our kids," Broncos coach Jason Nichols said. "I'm excited about that."

Montini's matchup against Wheeling on Monday is one of 16 games in the event. It features many of the top teams in Illinois as well as a handful from Indiana and Ohio.

"It's the best of what's out there this year," Shootout promoter Jim O'Boye said. "Up and down, the teams are pretty strong. There's no really great super team in Chicago this year, it looks like, so obviously South Bend (Ind.) Washington appears to be the class of the field."

Washington is No. 1 in the Hoosier state, according the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 20 Poll. The Panthers are ranked No. 22 in the country by USA Today.

Washington is led by 5-foot-9 guard Skylar Diggins, regarded as one of the top five juniors in the nation. Recently paid a visit by Tennessee coach Pat Summit when the Vols were in town to play Notre Dame, Diggins is averaging 27.6 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 steals.

"All the big-time schools across the country are after her," O'Boye said.

Washington, which won the Indiana's Class 4A state championship last season, takes on Fenwick at 8:30 tonight and Buffalo Grove at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Fans will see a number of other future Division I players from Indiana. North Central of Indianapolis is led by Tennessee-bound Briana Bass, a 5-3 senior point guard who is averaging 18.5 points and 4.5 assists. Her Panthers are ranked No. 4 in the state.

Indiana's leading scorer will be present in Lebanon's Maggie Boyer, a 6-foot senior guard who's averaging 28.5 points. She's headed to Purdue.

"She's a protégé of Rick Mount," O'Boye said. "Rick Mount has been her personal shooting coach for the last seven, eight years. He claims she's the best girls basketball shooter he's ever seen."

Washington is ranked No. 1 in Indiana for a reason. Beside Diggins, the Panthers' backcourt also contains 5-4 senior point guard Emily Phillips, who'll play for Penn State.

Illinois' best will be well represented. The Shootout contains seven of the top 10 teams in the Associated Press Class 4A poll -- No. 1 Buffalo Grove (ranked 14th in the nation by USA Today), No. 3 Fenwick, No. 4 Warren, No. 6 Bolingbrook, No. 8 Hinsdale Central, No. 9 Schaumburg and No. 10 Wheeling.

Hinsdale Central and its all-area sophomore point guard Toni Kokenis take on North Central at 10 a.m. Monday.

"It should be an interesting point guard matchup between Kokenis and Bass," O'Boye said. "That's the reason I put that together."

Six-foot-4 junior forward Samantha Arnold, fresh off verbally committing to Michigan earlier this week, will lead Lake Park into its game against Marist at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

"Samantha Arnold's a really nice player, so I wanted to get her in the event," O'Boye said.

When Montini, ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Class 3A poll, meets Wheeling at 5:30 p.m. Monday, the contest will see a battle of 6-3 centers: Montini sophomore Michala Johnson and Wheeling senior Lana Rukavina, an Illinois recruit.

Nichols knows all about the Wildcats.

"They're big, they're physical, they're strong, they're active and they're good," he said. "They're going to have some advantage against us. Hopefully, our advantages will win out, but that's an ultimate challenge. We really need that in the second half here to see where we're at going in the state playoffs."

Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students, and $3 for senior citizens and grade-school kids.

Rising Raider:ŒGlenbard South's Danielle Pipal has improved her overall game, including her scoring this season. The senior guard is averaging a team-high 12.6 points a game, up from her 8.6 of a year ago.

"I feel like my attitude is a lot better this year," said Pipal, who's also improved her shooting accuracy from 37 percent last season to 46 percent this year. "I don't get as frustrated as much, so I think that really helps me a lot with my overall game."

Pipal gave Kaneland fits during Glenbard South's 48-42 victory on Jan. 11 in Glen Ellyn. At one point in the second quarter, she scored 7 points in a minute en route to a game-high 18 points.

Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe called Pipal one of the best players in the Western Sun Conference.

"We tried to switch defenders on her, and even when you do a good job on her, closing her down, she finds the open player," Colombe said. "She's very tough to guard with one player. She's a great player."

"She's just getting better as a player every day," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said. "Her leadership this year is probably the biggest improvement that I see."

It's no coincidence that the Raiders have risen with Pipal's play. They're 14-6 compared to 9-11 through 20 games last season.

"It's been a good year," Pipal said. "I think our team has changed more mentally and we've matured a lot, which is good. We have six seniors, so it's our last year and we know we have to give it our all."

Learning curve:ŒDriscoll won 13 of its first 14 games before hitting a stretch where it lost three of four. The losses came to Oak Park in overtime in the title game of the Oswego East tournament and to Rosary and Montini in Suburban Catholic Conference road games.

"I would think a lot of that has to do with the competition," Highlanders coach Steve McCuiston said. "We're a little disappointed in our showing against the better teams right now. But if you don't play these kind of teams you really don't expose your weaknesses, and that's so important moving ahead right now to be able to see those weaknesses."

The Highlanders got back on the winning track by cutting down their turnovers and making seven 3-pointers to beat St. Francis 59-44 on Tuesday in Addison. They take a 15-4 overall record and 6-3 SCC mark to Immaculate Conception tonight.

18th annual McDonald's Shootout

At Willowbrook

Today

Grant vs. Willowbrook, 5:30 p.m. Kokomo (Ind.) vs. Warren, 7 p.m.

South Bend (Ind.) Washington vs. Fenwick, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday

St. Ignatius vs. Kokomo (Ind.), 11:30 a.m.

Resurrection vs. Bolingbrook, 1 p.m.

Lebanon (Ind.) vs. Sandburg, 2:30 p.m.

Loyola vs. Pickerington (Ohio) North, 4 p.m.

New Trier vs. Indianapolis North Central, 5:30 p.m.

Buffalo Grove vs. South Bend (Ind.) Washington, 7 p.m.

Monday

Indianapolis North Central vs. Hinsdale Central, 10 a.m.

Pickerington (Ohio) North vs. Maine South, 11:30 a.m.

DeKalb vs. Hamlet (Ind.) Oregon-Davis, 1 p.m.

Lake Park vs. Marist, 2:30 p.m. Hillcrest vs. Maine West, 4 p.m.

Wheeling vs. Montini, 5:30 p.m. Schaumburg vs. Marian Catholic, 7 p.m.