Special night for Spiwak, Rolling Meadows

Kyra Spiwak has yet to commit to a college for basketball.

"It's crazy," said Rolling Meadows girls coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "Some school is going to get a great player."

A great player who will go to college with more than 1,000 points in just three varsity seasons.

Spiwak became the fourth player during coach Ryan Kirkorsky' five-year tenure at Meadows to score more than 1,000 points when she hit the milestone in the Mustangs' 69-30 win over visiting Wheeling on Friday night.

Spiwak took a nice forward pass from classmate Clare Preissing on a Mustangs fastbreak and converted into a layup with 1:31 left in the first half to give her the 1,000th point and her team a 37-15 lead in the Mid-Suburban East girls basketball game.

During a time out seconds later, public address announcer Brett Olson announced the career achievement to the crowd which proceeded to give the 5-foot-9 senior guard (game-high 22 points) a big round of applause.

All Spiwak wanted to do was applaud her teammates and coaches.

"I owe it all to my teammates," said the South Middle School graduate who plans to study biomedical engineering. "Without them, I could have never done this."

But Spiwak also helps her teammates. She handed out a team-high 6 assists, including a few to Loyola-bound classmate Katherine Nolan, who went 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the second half.

Nolan poured home 21 points while hitting 7 of 10 shots.

"I was just so happy for Kyra," said Nolan, also a three-year varsity player. "She deserves this so much. She works so hard."

"Oh my God, I had no idea she was getting it (1,000 points) this game," said classmate Kelsey Nallon, the goalkeeper for Meadows soccer team which also included midfielder Spiwak.

"To be honest, she's great at both sports," Nallon said. "I get to see her in front of me on the soccer field. She has great hustle and great determination. She is always finding ways to score."

She scored in variety of ways on the basketball floor, too, as the fans saw on Friday when she hit a reverse layup, a sweeping scoop shot and a 3-pointer.

"Kyra is a dynamic scorer," said Kirkorsky who also coached 1000-point plus Meadows scorers Jackie Kemph, Alexis Glasgow and Jenny Vliet. "Kyra has the ability to finish plays."

Senior Morgan Campagna finished her night by going 6-of-9 from the field for 14 points while also grabbing a team-high 9 rebounds.

Nolan and Nallon each had 3 rebounds for Meadows while junior Melissa Spiwak had 4 assists.

"It's so fun playing with my sister," said Kyra, who took a nice pass from Melissa for a layup. "I'm so grateful to have these coaches I have here and my teammates. It's amazing. They are some of my best friends and I have my sister out there with me, too."

Sophomore Nosa Igiehon shared scoring honors for Wheeling (5-5, 1-1) with senior Melissa Claver (9 points apiece). Nansy Velev added 6 points.

Igiehon took an inbounds pass and sank a 8-foot bank shot to get the Wildcats to within 4-2 three minutes into the game.

But Meadows (7-3, 2-0) got on a roll with a 12-3 run, capped by Kyra Spiwak's 3-pointer that made it 16-5.

"I thought our kids played a complete game," Kirkorsky said. "Wheeling is very disciplined on defense and I thought our kids played a mature game. Our big three of Kyra, Morgan (Campagna) and Katherine (Nolan) played awesome together and everyone else filled their roles."

Wheeling coach Matt Weber praised the Mustangs' effort.

"Credit Rolling Meadows," he said. "They came out with a lot of energy and were a lot more physical.

"We didn't come ready to play and that's my fault. They have a lot of talent and Ryan does a great job. We've got to learn from this experience."

Weber felt the Mustangs' transition game made a difference.

"They did a great job running the court," he added. "They took advantage of us being slow getting back in transition. Credit Meadows. We just have to get better ourselves. My job as a coach is to make sure that happens."