Girls Basketball: Maine South leaves Bloomington with a bang

Updated: January 3, 2012 7:30PM

Mark Smith’s two young daughters will keep him from taking the Hawks Downstate next season to defend their first State Farm Classic championship.

The Maine South coach said he wanted to pick a tournament closer to home for the foreseeable future, so he can spend the winter holidays with his family. The Hawks will begin play next December at Dundee-Crown’s prestigious Charger Classic, which features some of the Chicago area’s best clubs.

“It’s hard being away from my daughters,” said Smith, whose oldest is 3 years old. “They’ve treated us so well down there at the State Farm Classic. We also really valued the opportunity to stay overnight and eat meals together.

“We’re going to miss being part of it all.”

In its fifth trip to Bloomington, top-seeded Maine South won all four games at the tournament, beating Champaign Centennial 55-43 in the championship game. Nina Duric scored a team-high 14 points, while Michelle Maher added 13 points and Jacqui Grant followed with 11.

“The tournament is always stacked with great teams, even though most people up here aren’t aware of them,” said Smith, whose No. 8-ranked team improved to 17-1 overall with its 10th consecutive victory. “We just played unselfishly and had someone different step up each game.”

Maher and Grant both were named to the all-tournament team, which includes just six players from the 16-team field. In the 53-49 win over Springfield in the semifinals, Maher became the program’s seventh player to reach 1,000 points for her career.

Maher, who entered this week with 1,014 points, is 120 points away from climbing into fourth place on the all-time list. The Hawks have 10 more regular-season games before the playoffs.

While Dundee-Crown offers a competitive 16-team field that simulates a sectional tournament, Smith’s Hawks most likely will play some familiar teams, including CSL clubs New Trier, Evanston and Maine West. The Hawks this season also faced Buffalo Grove and Prospect, two other teams that traveled to Carpentersville last week.

Maine South, which last played a non-tournament game Dec. 15 against Glenbrook South, is off until Jan. 10 when it plays Waukegan. The Hawks also play Loyola and New Trier next week. The Trevians handed the Hawks their only loss this season, 55-44 on Dec. 2.

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