Arrow’s about to take an upward turn
By Bryan Bonato Special to The News-Sun November 9, 2011 4:48PM
LAKE FOREST Monday Nov 7 2011 Anna Schwartz maintains control of the ball from Tori Moore during girls basketball practice at Lake Forest High School. Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 13, 2011 8:18AM
High-school basketball, at the high level it’s played in these parts, is not a sport in which a program can go from a one-win season one year to a one-loss season the next.
That said, things to seem to be shaping up way better for Lake Forest’s girls basketball program and new coach Kyle Wilhelm than you’d think, given the 1-25 season that the team and its fans suffered through a year ago.
Three things are at work that sort of produce the perfect storm:
■ A new coach who brings a fresh approach to the program.
■ The return of a veteran star player after a year’s absence to bridge the gap between this current group of players and ...
■ A talented group of incoming freshmen — many from the Lake Bluff community — who figure to be main-stage ready in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.
In other words, the arrow’s pointing up for the Blue/Gold as they prepare for Tuesday’s season opener against visiting Regina Dominican.
Wilhelm, who played high-school ball at Mundelein and has been coaching freshman boys hoops at Lake Forest for a half-dozen years, is ready to go, although his team’s early-season workouts were affected by the deep postseason run made by the Scouts’ volleyball team.
“I think the whole morale and enthusiasm has been extremely positive. The girls made a good showing at summer camp,” Wilhelm said. “We have 13 on the roster now. We have a lot of height. The girls are working hard. They continue to improve.
“The big thing I keep telling them is that it’s not where we’re at in November. If we keep improving, we’re going to be a tough team to beat come the end of the season.”
One of the interesting things about high-school sports is how winning/losing is contagious.
The incoming freshmen are used to winning. They couldn’t care less about 1-25.
“One of the great things this summer was just seeing the enthusiasm of the players coming in and how that built on the enthusiasm of the returning players,” the coach said. “If they keep working hard, we’ll take some strides as a program this year.”
The key veteran will be senior Mary Striedl, who was a varsity starter as a sophomore, skipped hoops last season to concentrate on volleyball, and now is back on the basketball court, with a signed letter of intent to play volleyball at Pitt having been sent to Big East Conference school.
The 6-foot Striedl played as a wing/small-forward type her sophomore year and will be one of the taller players on the court in most games this year.
“Last year I decided to focus on volleyball, but I thought it would be really fun to come back out (for basketball). I’m so excited to play for Mr. Wilhelm. He was my math teacher. I know he’ll do a really good job with these girls,” Striedl said.
The star conceded the ball she’s used to handling these days is a volleyball.
“It’s going to take awhile for me to get back into the rhythm of basketball, but I think it will be a lot of fun. I’m really excited for the season,” she said.
“ A lot of the volleyball team came out: Jennifer Kreb, Anna Schwartz, Tori Moore, and Gabby (Perino), who played basketball last year. I think they’ll be really good additions,” Striedl said.
One thing about Lake Forest athletics this school year: They have been good-to-great in just about every sport, so the bar the hoops team must clear has been set high.
“The bar has been set by our own school with how successful we were in volleyball, with field hockey finishing second in state, golf winning state, etc.,” said Wilhelm.
“The challenge is building girls basketball here back to what it was, because it was very successful here. With the athletes here, I think we have some of the right pieces coming out.”
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