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Girls basketball: Warren has opportunity to be special
Coach John Stanczykiewicz talks with the girls before their basketball practice at Warren High School on Monday, Oct. 31st. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
Updated: October 31, 2011 7:43PM
A year ago, the Lake County corner of the prep girls basketball world belonged to Grayslake Central, Libertyville and Zion-Benton.
On Monday, the 2011-2012 season officially got under way with practice at all schools and, as they ask on the playground courts: Who’s got next?
Maybe that answer will be “Warren.”
A year go, while the spotlight shined elsewhere, the Blue Devils were 15-13 with a team that had ZERO seniors.
Now, there are experienced players everywhere, including 5-foot-10 Amanda Barger (committed to play at Youngstown State), 6-3 Jessica Prince (committed to Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and 5-8 Lexi Leneau, who hasn’t committed yet but hopes to play college ball.
One thing’s for certain: All those college scouts who went elsewhere last season will know where Warren is located this time around.
“A lot of the girls here have playing together for a long time, even going back to when we were young,” Leneau said. “We have that connection on the court and off it.
“I think that gives us a leg up on some other teams, because they have to learn that connection on the court, while we already have it. We don’t have to spend so much time building toward that. It definitely takes a lot of the stress off of starting a new season because you step on the court and you know almost everybody.”
Longtime coach John Stanczykiewicz was at the wheel during the glory days of Sarah Boothe, who’s now at Stanford..
Now, he’s ready to coach a team that he thinks can do as well as those clubs did.
“Inexperience is not going to be an excuse. Our biggest obstacle right now is ourselves,” the coach said. “This is a group that needs to learn discipline, responsibility, and accountability. The physical aspect of the game is not a question this year. The mental aspect is the question.
“If they can take care of that, if they can do what they’re supposed to do, if they can play together, we have the chance to do something special.”
He added that the talent is there for a special campaign.
“This is the most talented group I’ve had since Sarah (Boothe) was a senior. We don’t have that superior basketball talent that group did, but as far as team ability and athleticism, there’s no question,” he said. “We have three kids that are fourth-year varsity ballplayers. We have a couple kids with a couple years of varsity experience (6-0 Alyssa Phillips, 5-5 Rachel Brown, plus sophomore Cassie Christie).
“I would not say we had a really dedicated offseason, but we’ll see what they come with today. They need to be able to come together and play together. I’m encouraged for a good year but they have to take care of some things in order for that to happen. It’s not going to happen just because we walk on the floor.”
Barger agrees that there’s work to be done. She saw the excitement created at other schools last year. This year, it’s Warren’s turn.
“We got the chance to see the level those teams played at,” she said. “We competed well with Zion last year. Having a season like that is something we’re capable of.
‘We have the talent and the team mentality. We can make the plays, but we haven’t always been able to finish. That’s something we really need to improve on.”
Work toward that started on Monday.
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