Rosenfeldt puts her name atop St. Charles East scoring list

From starting day one as a freshman to upping her scoring average significantly each season to dropping 38 points on state champion Geneva as a junior, Sara Rosenfeldt has been on a four-year path straight toward the top of St. Charles East's all-time scoring chart.

She got there last Friday in a 62-33 win over Elgin. With 20 points, Rosenfeldt passed 2005 graduate Claire Sheehan.

Rosenfeldt, also likely to finish as the Saints' career rebounding leader, posted another double-double Tuesday with 21 points and 11 rebounds against Bartlett. That gives her a total of 1,355 career points.

The only games this 6-foot forward hasn't started in her four years were two senior nights as a freshman and sophomore when she gave way to her older teammates.

"Sara works so hard," first-year Saints coach Aubree Schuett said. "The way she works and the time she puts in, it was just a matter of time. It was inevitable for her this would happen. I'm super excited and I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to be part of it."

The Saints gave Rosenfeldt the game ball after she broke the record. The University of Alabama-Birmingham recruit averaged 8.4 points and 6.1 rebounds as a freshman, then improved those numbers to 14.5 and 7.6 as a sophomore and 19.1 points and 10.5 rebounds as a junior.

"Sara brings so much more to the game of basketball than the stuff she does on the court," Schuett said. "She gives her time to younger players to help them develop, high school kids and youth kids in our community. I think there's a lot of kids in St. Charles that really look up to her and want to be just like her. I think this accomplishment is certainly a great individual accomplishment for Sara but also great for the program in helping us reshape and re-image where we believe this program should be and will be in the future. Sara certainly has helped lay the foundation."

Rosenfeldt also passed up 1,000-point scorers Katie White, Lexi Baltes and Amanda Hilton. With no official stats before 2008, figuring out exactly how many points Rosenfeldt needed for the record was no easy chore.

"We have done a tremendous amount of research to try to figure this out," Schuett said.

Rosenfeldt will continue playing basketball next year at Division I UAB with her good friend and AAU teammate Margaret Whitley from Geneva.

"We didn't pick because of each other going because obviously we want the best choice for each other," Rosenfeldt said. "But me and Marge are like best friends so it makes the experience much better. We both know we made the right choice. We are excited to go down and play with other Illinois kids."

Rosenfeldt visited eight schools. In the end she said it came down to UAB and Kent State.

"I still love Kent State but UAB was a great fit," Rosenfeldt said. "I love coach (Randy) Norton. He is unbelievable and I can't wait to play for him. I love the campus and the weather and the whole team. Right when I got there they treated me like family."

Rosenfeldt said setting the scoring record was one of her main goals for her final season, and she also wants to help the 3-6 Saints finish with a winning record.

"It went by so fast," Rosenfeldt said. "I still feel like a freshman."

Streaking: After Wednesday's 61-34 nonconference win at Schaumburg, Geneva owns a 24-game winning streak.

That's not to say coach Sarah Meadows doesn't have a checklist of areas her team can improve on.

"All season we'll continue to talk every day about rebounding and boxing out and being physical," Meadows said.

The Vikings are a guard-heavy, senior-dominated team this season. Those seniors - and starting lineup - scored all 49 points in an Upstate Eight River win over St. Charles North on Friday.

"We just want to get those kids minutes," Meadows said of newcomers like Katie Montgomery, Cassidy Navigato and Emma Kornak. "We have some young kids on the bench and we have to get them comfortable. It's clear we lose a lot. We want those kids with us so they know exactly how we do things and run things and start to get them comfortable."

Senior Stephanie Hart paced the Vikings with 18 points against the North Stars.

"I think our guards are doing a nice job," Meadows said. "I think Stephanie is playing some of the best basketball she has. (Sophomore) Lindsay (Blackmore) is providing a lift off the bench. And Brie (Borkowicz) has had a real nice start offensively and defensively. We have a lot of kids who can do a lot of good things."

Assignments out: The IHSA released postseason assignments Tuesday. The road for Geneva's defense of its Class 4A state title goes through the Lake Park sectional and Streamwood supersectional.

If the Vikings get through the sectional, which includes Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South, ranked No. 5 and 13, respectively, in the Daily Herald Top 20, they will face the winner of the Dundee-Crown sectional. That sectional features the entire Fox Valley Conference and a strong Rockton Hononegah team.

In Class 3A, Burlington Central will host a supersectional at Elgin Community College. If the Rockets, who just lost their first game Tuesday to Johnsburg, want to play in their own super, they need to survive a Genoa-Kingston sectional that includes Sycamore, Kaneland, St. Edward and Glenbard South - though those schools are all in the opposite sub-sectional.

After getting to state in Class 1A last year, Harvest Christian is making the jump to 2A. The Lions are in the Bureau Valley sectional where they could face two-time defending state champ Byron or Bureau Valley, both receiving votes in the AP state poll.

Back just in time: When Hampshire senior Lauren Herrmann underwent knee surgery in late July, Whip-Purs coach Mike Featherly feared the worst.

On a team without much experience, Herrmann was one player coming back with plenty of varsity success.

Luckily for Featherly and the Whip-Purs, Herrmann's first day back on the court was the first day of tryouts. She's been the leading scorer through the season's early stages.

"We were fearing she might be out," Featherly said. "She did a great job rehabbing. She couldn't run (all fall). She shot free throws, that's it. She's worked hard."

Shooting camp: Rosary will hold a shooting camp for girls in fifth through eighth grades on Dec. 27-28 at Rosary High School.

The Rosary coaching staff and players will host the two-day camp from 8 to 11 a.m. The registration fee is $35 in advance or $45 at the door and includes a T-shirt. To register, visit http://rosaryhs.com/holiday_hoops.