Ran into one of the real good guys at the Wheaton North tournament Friday night in Glenbrook South coach Steve Weissenstein. He had some upbeat news about senior forward Noel Hanzel, who hit her head in the Titans’ Dec. 21 game against New Trier and had a seizure. After spending a day in the hospital, Hanzel was released and is still recovering, Weissenstein said.
Hanzel is a three-sport athlete at Glenbrook South, playing basketball and running track and cross-country.
Weissenstein’s group had more reason to be upbeat Friday, as the Titans beat Hersey 57-41 and will play Wheaton North Saturday at 4:30 in the fifth-place game. The win improves Glenbrook’s record to 10-4.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hillcrest coach John Maniatis probably heaved a sigh of relief after his Hawks beat Rich Central 56-47 Thursday night in the Hillcrest quarterfinals. Hillcrest improves to 13-0 and the Hawks were able to withstand an 11-0 Rich Central run.
But, more importantly, was the effort of senior captain Jocelyn Wide. The 5-9 senior guard/forward has been playing on a bum left ankle. She tweaked it late in the third quarter and had to sit until early in the fourth. Wide was able to ignore a very vocal Rich Central crowd and show her leadership in getting the Hawks back on track.
Aside from the one-point Mother McAuley win over Evanston and the Fremd upset of Maine West on Wednesday (both at Dundee-Crown), the Hillcrest-Rich Central game is one of the most exciting I've seen during tournament time.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Fenwick-Nazareth game may not be slated until Jan. 5, but there is already an interesting side story brewing for that contest. Both teams are undefeated in the East Suburban Catholic — Fenwick is 5-0 and Nazareth is 2-0. Fenwick sisters Clare and Tricia Liston will be facing their cousins Kathleen Chizewski and Annmarie Chizewski.
(Larry Chizewski, the girls' father, was nice enough to point this out in an e-mail to me.)
Sounds like family bragging rights will be on the line.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 06:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fremd upset No. 22 Maine West this afternoon at Dundee-Crown. The Vikings won 38-36 on Taylor Glassmann’s short jumper with five seconds to play, breaking a 36-36 tie.
Glassmann said the win was a big one for the Vikings, but what made it even more significant was that the Vikings did it on a major stage — the D-C court.
“It is cool to beat them in a tournament and we sent them to the losers bracket,” Glassmann said. “We worked really hard in practice for this week.”
Glassmann, a sophomore who is in her second year on the varsity, had more reason to smile after the win. She had a lot of family members at the game who drove up from St. Louis.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Beginning of the end and other things
No. 1 Buffalo Grove won its first-round game at the Dundee-Crown tournament Wednesday, a 66-41 win over Regina. It is the last tournament appearance for Bison coach Tom Dineen, who is retiring after the season, and it was the opening game of the tournament’s 25th edition.
So it was fitting that BG’s Loyola-bound guard Ellen Ayoub made the morning special, as she scored 24 points and notched her 1,500th career point.
And Dineen laughed when asked about playing the day’s first game at 10 a.m.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever played here in the morning,” Dineen said. “Maybe it’s their way of getting back at me in my last year.”
Mother McAuley won its Dundee opener, a 56-55 nailbiter over Evanston. McAuley returns to the D-C tournament for the first time since the 1990s, quite fitting for the tournament’s 25th anniversary.
Evanston's Kim Davis and Darcel Retreage led the Wilkits with 20 and 22 points, respectively.
Davis is a heady ball player. She had a collision at midcourt late in the game, looked pretty shaken up, but got up and kept going. Some writers here at D-C wonder how good Evanston would be if Janelle Cannon was still at Evanston. Cannon transferred to Wheeling this year.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 03:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New Trier’s girls basketball team received some bad news this week. Junior guard/forward Jessica Atlas tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during New Trier’s 47-46 win over Waukegan Friday night, and there is a good chance she is done for the season. New Trier coach Carrie Sowa said Atlas went to see a doctor Saturday, who said Atlas did tear the ACL. But Sowa added that Atlas had an MRI Monday and the results have not come in yet.
“We’re not sure if it is a complete or a partial tear,” Sowa said. “I don’t think we’re planning on having her back this season.”
Sowa said Atlas was a significant contributor to the Trevians, averaging about 10.9 points a game with a solid presense in the post.
What makes the story sadder for Sowa, and Atlas, is that Atlas is a standout volleyball player, too. And if Atlas’ knee does have a complete tear, she might miss the club volleyball season in the spring.
But Sowa said she is surprised at how positive Atlas’ attitude has been since the injury. She has participated in workouts with her trainer and is a strong supporter of the team from the bench, with a seat right next to Sowa’s.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There’s a lot of great rivalries in high school sports: Mount Carmel-St. Rita and Naperville North-Naperville Central in football, Marshall-Crane in boys basketball and New Trier-Evanston in just about anything.
But, for me, you can’t beat Young-Marshall in girls basketball. I look forward to it every year.
The two schools aren’t that far apart from each other on the city’s West Side, and they’re in the same conference, the Windy City West. The rivalry goes back well over a decade when Arthur Penny was Young’s coach and Marshall coach Dorothy Gaters was producing city and state champions nearly every season.
The 2007-08 installment of Young-Marshall didn’t disappoint. The game was fast, physical and you could cut the intensity and tension in Young’s gym with a knife. Even the boys team and its stars, Marcus Jordan and AJ Rompza, came out of practice to watch as host Young came out ahead 58-51.
It all seemed to tire out Young’s Rice recruit D’Frantz Smart, but she ended the night with a team-high 17 points and six assists.
But the numbers don’t matter. Smart, and her teammates, just wanted to beat Marshall.
“I’m just happy with the win and I don’t care about the numbers,” Smart said. “If I wanted to look out for my individual stats, I would have played an individual sport.
Marshall will get its chance to knot the season series on Jan. 11 when they host the Dolphins. I won't miss that one, either.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marian Catholic senior Jen Szala is taking care of a sore back that she injured during the Spartans' low-scoring win at Carmel last weekend. She went up for a layup and landed awkwardly on a nerve. The injury also affected Szala's walking.
That kept her out of the starting lineup Wednesday against Marist, but Szala didn't seem to show any effects of being even somewhat injured. She scored 11 points for the game and had three steals in the first half. The St. Joseph's of Indiana recruit prides herself on how she plays defense and on how the Spartans defend.
This is a huge week for Marian. After beating Marist 62-49, the Spartans look toward a showdown with undefeated Trinity Saturday at Marian at 2:30. Szala, for one, is psyched.
"Defense is my favorite part and I love playing it," Szala said. "We're going to be ready for Trinity. As long as we play our game, we'll be ready."

Posted by Tina Akouris at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bolingbrook coach Tony Smith said that Temple recruit Miranda Tate has decided to leave the team. Smith said Tate is still enrolled at Bolingbrook and the decision to leave the girls basketball program should not affect her college scholarship.
"It's been brewing and she's been hurt for the last two years," Smith said. "It was like, 'Can you play or not?' The last [injury] was her knee. I think she is upset."
Smith was adamant that the decision had to be for the best for the team. Although it is unfortunate, Smith is sure that Tate will be fine in the end.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Chicago Sky have named their second girls basketball team of the week for this season. The Raiders from Downstate Shiloh have earned the honor this week. Shiloh is a Class 1A school with only 134 students, but the Raiders have a strong girls basketball program. They are 11-1 and all the seniors have played on the varsity since their freshman years. Shiloh's players are active in their community, too. Each season they hold a Raider Showcase scrimmage, where they collect toys to give to local charities. The team will be honored at a Sky game next summer.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hope finds itself in an odd position a month into the season. The Lady Eagles still need to fill two dates on their varsity schedule and are looking for two opponents.
Anyone interested should call Hope assistant coach Janelle Spearmon at (773) 552-0429.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Fenwick sophomore Tricia Liston, a 6-1 guard, is considered by many to be one of the best players in the state. But her older sister, Clare, also has an interesting story.
Friars coach Dave Power said he had only nine players available for practice when Clare Liston, a senior, approached him and offered to help.
Liston has been the go-to player on the Friars’ volleyball team this season, and when the season was over she decided to give basketball a try. She played in the fourth quarter Saturday against Joliet Catholic and scored 10 points in a 67-25 win. Power said the team has accepted the elder Liston.
“She said, ‘I think I can help the team,’ ” Power said. “I was hesitant because she was still playing volleyball when she offered, but she said she could give us a 10th player in practice.”
It seems to have worked out just fine. Tricia Liston was out of Saturday’s game with an ankle sprain that she suffered in the St. Joseph game on Dec. 6. So Fenwick must be relieved to have another Liston in reserve.

Posted by Tina Akouris at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)