Illinois Basketball News: Girls Season Begins
November 16, 2021
Basketball games are officially back. So is this newsletter.
We’ll get to the details of this newsletter and Illinois-Basketball for the upcoming season another day. Right now, let’s just say this will be in your inboxes multiple times per week, bringing the latest news and stories.
Today we have 40-plus season preview stories in the newsletter, plus a handful of game stories. This is a girls-only newsletter today (we’ll have a similar boys preview in the next few days.
The newsletter will be a bit different depending on the day and what I’m covering. Today it’s all links since there’s so much content to share.
Reminder: Send scores, stories or news to me at rudnik.jakub@gmail.com or on Twitter at @jakubrudnik.
You can get daily boys and basketball scores from around the state at https://illinois-basketball.com/. Bookmark it. Send it to a friend.
Reminder: You can receive this newsletter in your inbox every week for free by subscribing below.
Area and Conference Previews
“Tony Baranek’s top 10 girls basketball teams and 25 players to watch in the Southland for the 2021-22 season” (Tony Baranek/Daily Southtown)
“Matt Le Cren’s scouting report of the Naperville Sun’s girls basketball teams for the 2021-22 season” (Matt Le Cren/Naperville Sun)
“Western Illinois area girls basketball: Teams, individuals to watch” (Dispatch Argus)
“Scouting the East Suburban Catholic” (Mike Miazga/Daily Herald)
“Scouting the DuPage Valley” (Stan Goff/Daily Herald)
“Scouting the Mid-Suburban East” (John Lemon/Daily Herald)
“Scouting the Fox Valley” (Alex Kantecki/Daily Herald)
“Scouting the North Suburban Conference” (Mike Miaga/Daily Herald)
“2021-22 girls basketball season preview: Scouting the Interstate Eight” (Shaw Media)
“2021-22 DeKalb County girls basketball preview capsules” (Lenny Eisele/Shaw Media)
“Previewing teams from around the Kane County Chronicle area” (Jake Bartelson/Shaw Media)
“2021-22 Northwest Herald girls basketball preview capsules” (Alex Kanteck/Shaw Media)
“2021-22 girls' basketball season preview: Preseason top 10” (Colin Likas/News-Gazette)
“2021-22 girls' basketball season preview: A glance at all 42 local programs” (Colin Likas/News-Gazette)
Players to Watch
“Here are the top 18 girls basketball players in the Peoria area” (Adam Duvall/Peoria Journal-Star)
“Here are the Springfield area's top 15 high school girls basketball players” (Bill Welt/State Journal-Register)
“The top 15 players in the Rockford area” (Matt Trowbridge/Rockford Register Star)
“Five to watch: Scouting the top players in the area” (Lenny Eisele/Daily Chronicle)
“Northwest Herald girls basketball preview: Five players to watch in 2021-22” (Alex Kanteck/Shaw Media)
“Kane County Chronicle girls basketball preview: 5 players to watch” (Jake Bartelson/Shaw Media)
Player Stories
“Cool in the clutch. An all-around dominator. True to her school. Junior forward Janae Kent checks all the boxes for Oak Forest.” (Tony Baranek/Daily Southtown)
“As a freshman, Morgan Demos played five minutes for Benet at state. Those lights of Redbird Arena still shine brightly. ‘That’s the goal.’” (Matt Le Cren/Naperville Sun)
“All about Alyssa Latham? Hardly. The junior forward is happy to play again for H-F: ‘It’s exciting to be back out here and have a real season.’” (Tony Baranek/Daily Southtown)
“After whirlwind summer playing for Lithuanian national team, Montini’s Victoria Matulevicius set for sophomore season” (Joshua Welge/Shaw Media)
Individual Team Previews
“Chicago top teams preview: Kenwood poised for a run” (Kaleb Carter/Illinois-Basketball.com)
“2021-22 girls' basketball season preview: Orgeron, Bulldogs ready to make noise” (Colin Likas/News-Gazette)
“Sherrard girls' hoops seek return to TRAC West summit” (Terry Duckett/Dispatch Argus)
“Alyssa Hughes, hungry St. Charles North have high hopes” (Jake Bartelson/Shaw Media)
“Experienced St. Bede girls eying more postseason hardware” (Kevin Chlum/Shaw Media)
“Fieldcrest girls return 4 starters, look for another successful season” (Brian Hoxsey/Shaw Media)
“Solid core, young faces make Marquette girls a threat” (Charlie Ellerbrock/Shaw Media)
“New territory and season for Tuscola Lady Warriors basketball team” (The Tuscola Journal/Lenny Sementi)
“Ottawa girls boast experience, hope to be tough team to beat” (Brian Hoxsey/Shaw Media)
“Putnam County girls eyeing up-tempo style after 7-10 season” (Charlie Ellerbrock/Shaw Media)
“Wasilewski putting his stamp on Bureau Valley girls basketball” (Kevin Hieronymus/Shaw Media)
“Hall girls hoops hoping for more consistency” (Clark Teuscher/Shaw Media)
Holiday Tournaments
“Girls Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament Schedules 2021” (Dion Martorano/Journal & Topics)
“10 holiday tournaments to catch” (Colin Likas/News-Gazette)
“Princeton Holiday Tournament: Putnam County, PHS, Bureau Valley win openers” (Kevin Chlum/Shaw Media)
“Schaumburg Thanksgiving Girls Basketball Classic Schedule” (Dion Martorano/Journal & Topics)
“Maine East Girls Basketball Thanksgiving Tournament Schedule” (Dion Martorano/Journal & Topics)
Monday’s Game Stories
“Reagan Sipla, hot-shooting St. Charles North start off on right foot against Downers Grove South” (Scott Schmid/Shaw Media)
“Columbia pulls away from Greenville to win season opener” (Paul Halfacre/St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
“Duckmann Leads Elk Grove To Opening Win In Buxton’s Return” (Dion Martorano/Journal & Topics)
“Becca Carani, Burlington Central breeze past Marengo in season opener” (Jake Bartelson/Shaw Media)
“Marian Central starts hot, cruises to win over Woodstock in season opener” (Alex Kantecki/Shaw Media)
“First quarters prove decisive for Serena, Seneca” (Charlie Ellerbrock/Shaw Media)
Photos: Downers Grove South vs. St. Charles North girls basketball (Shaw Media)
Photos: York vs. Conant girls basketball (Shaw Media)
Miscellaneous
“Darcy Kepner the latest in the Princeton girls hoops coaching tree” (Kevin Hieronymus/Shaw Media)
“25 non-tournament games to catch” (Colin Likas/News-Gazette)
