Girls Basketball: Lincoln-Way East back on track

Updated: January 23, 2012 6:55PM

While Loyola University-bound senior guard Taylor Johnson and 6-foot senior forward Caitlin McMahon have been stealing the spotlight, and deservingly so, Lincoln-Way East coach Jim Martin has been pleased with the progression of the rest of the Griffins during their 16-2 season.

Since a 78-48 loss to No. 1 Bolingbrook, No. 2 Lincoln-Way East has won two games and is back on track.

“After the Bolingbrook loss, we still felt good about our team,” Martin said. “We bounced back nicely against Joliet (57-41 win) and against Johnsburg (57-32 win) Saturday.”

Senior guard Amy Jacobsen, junior forward Nathalie Hill and junior forward Meaghan McMahon have been complimentary players to Johnson and Caitlin McMahon.

“We are very pleased with the other three starters,” Martin said. “Amy Jacobsen has developed into a very good defender and is shooting well from the outside for us. Nathalie Hill plays with great intensity and Meaghan McMahon has stepped up for us in rebounding, scoring and handling the ball.”

Lincoln-Way East’s top reserves are senior guard Abby Madden and junior forward Marissa DeGroot.

“Abby Madden and Marissa DeGroot come off the bench and give us a great lift,” Martin said. “Marissa plays so hard and is a good defender who can rebound. All of these kids are smart, they know their role and that is what has made us successful. We are truly a team.”

A win Monday against Lockport would have been the Griffins’ 200th in school history. Martin is the only coach the program has ever known. He is 199-102 in his 11th season.

Revenge for Irish

No. 3 seed Seneca (17-8) avenged a 39-32 loss in November by beating top seed Peotone (21-3) by a 49-33 count to win the program’s third Interstate 8 tournament championship last week in Coal City.

“Any time your team can play well enough to win a tourney it is a great boost for the program,” Seneca coach Barb Beck said. “The ladies had three games in six days and each game was a different type of game. Winning the conference tournament is a goal that we set at the start of the season. We have other goals set for ourselves and we need to stay focused and work hard toward those.”

Seneca’s Coley Baker, Lexi Brown and Alyssa Applebee and Coal City’s Emily Halliday earned all-tournament honors.

The Fighting Irish, who are ranked No. 4 in the Joliet area, could meet Peotone a third time in the Class 2A Beecher Regional championship game next month. Peotone is the No. 1 seed and Seneca was voted the No. 2 seed in the regional.

Coal City (11-13), which did one better than its seed by taking fourth in the Interstate 8 Tournament, is the No. 4 seed in the Beecher Regional. Joliet Catholic (8-13) is the No. 4 seed in the Class 2A Plano Regional.

Class 3A and 4A seeds and match-ups will be released by the state later this week.

Raiders rumblings

Bolingbrook (14-1) moved up two spots in the ESPN/Powerade national rankings to No. 5 after beating Niles West 67-36 and Lincoln-Way East 78-48.

Bolingbrook’s national rankings: No. 8 USA Today/High School Sports Net; No. 5 Max Preps; No. 5 ESPN/Powerade.

Up next for the Raiders: Jan. 24 at Sandburg; Jan. 26 at St. Joseph; Jan. 28 vs. Lockport.

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