Girls Basketball: Romeoville stating its case

Updated: May 9, 2012 10:11AM

Like the compacted NBA season, depth will be a determining factor during the final month of the high school girls basketball season.

Romeoville believes it has the talent and depth to rate a top-four seed in the Class 4A Neuqua Valley Sectional. The Spartans are 15-2 overall and 6-1 in the Southwest Prairie Conference. Seeds will be released Jan. 26 by the IHSA.

“We’re picking it up and we’re not worried about the past,” Romeoville guard Brianna Harris said. “We are worried about the future. Every game is important because we want to avoid Bolingbrook (a lock for the No. 1 seed) as long as we can.”

“Coach has been preparing everyone so when they get in there, they do a good job on the court,” forward Kiera Currie said.

Precious Williams has returned from an injury for the Spartans, who usually use a nine-player rotation.

“The girls on the bench need to get more playing time,” Romeoville coach Julio Carrasco said. “Our substitutions are doing well. The girls who are getting in there are doing a good job for us.”

Despite not shooting a high percentage, Currie also is doing a good job for Romeoville.

“Right now, Kiera is missing some shots inside, but she’s getting there,” Carrasco said of Currie, who is averaging 15.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. “I love what coach (Ray) Liberatore, of Minooka, said of her. She’s a beast. We call her that all the time.”

Plainfield East on the verge

Despite blowing an 18-point third-quarter lead in a 53-51 Southwest Prairie Conference loss Friday at Romeoville, junior-dominated Plainfield East is making strides toward being a respectable Joliet-area program.

The Bengals’ top young players are freshman Faith Suggs and juniors Nina Maggio, Gina Mathews and Gabby Williams.

“Faith is a good athlete and Gabby Williams is a tremendous force and a physical player,” Carrasco said.

Lemont on the move

Lemont got off to a slow start this season but won back-to-back games last week. The Indians are 6-13 overall, but more important are 5-2 in the SouthWest Suburban Blue.

Kelsey Motto hit a school-record seven three-pointers in a 46-29 win over Reavis. It came on the heels of a 35-29 win over Argo.

Tracking Bolingbrook

Bolingbrook (12-1) slipped from a brief stint at No. 1 to No. 8 in the USA Today/High School Sports Net national poll. The Raiders square off against No. 2 Lincoln-Way East (13-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Frankfort. The Griffins are coming off a 65-55 loss to Geneva (16-3), their first of the season.

Bolingbrook, which is ranked No. 1 in the Herald-News, No. 8 by USA Today/High School Sports Net, No. 5 by Max Preps and No. 7 by ESPN/Powerade, hasn’t lost to an Illinois team since a 54-45 setback to Whitney Young in the 2008 Class 4A state championship game.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.