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Many familiar faces as Wheeling tops Leyden

Wheeling High School welcomed back a familiar face on Tuesday night.

Former Wildcats all-area guard Stephanie Kuzmanic, now the head girls basketball coach for Leyden, brought the Eagles to her alma mater.

"I want to give a shout out to all the fans back here to see Stephanie," public address announcer Mike Burke told crowd during the nonconference game. "She's one of Wheeling's finest."

The Wildcats played one of their finest halves of the season to grab a 32-12 lead at the break en route to a 48-28 triumph over the Eagles, led by Kuzmanic and her assistant Claudette Towers, a former Fenwick standout.

Kuzmanic wasn't the only person on the bench going up against an alma mater.

Wheeling coach Matt Weber's assistant, Bill Murmann, was an offensive lineman in the late 1960s for Leyden's football teams which were led by quarterback Mike Shanahan (former NFL head coach).

Murmann is also a former Schaumburg and St. Viator girls basketball coach.

"I actually coached against both Stephanie and Claudette when they played in high school," Murmann said. "They're both good people and their kids fought real hard for four quarters."

Wheeling improved to 10-11 as sophomore Nosa Igiehon (15 points) and senior Melissa Claver (14) led the offense.

"When we were getting the ball inside, we were taking advantage of our size," Weber said. "Defensively, we did a great job in the first half communicating and helping out when they were driving.

"In the second half, Leyden did a good job coming out and applying pressure and they fought for four quarters."

Wheeling began to pull away when senior Shannon Kennedy (7 points) hit a 3-pointer for an 11-4 lead with 2:38 left in the first quarter. A steal and layup by Nansy Velev (7 points) put the Wildcats in front 15-6 early in the second quarter.

Claver ended the half with 2 free throws to make it 32-12.

The senior, who has verbally committed to play at Washington University in St. Louis, missed 2½ weeks over the holidays with an ankle injury but is back to 100 percent.

"I was like 'I really want to play in the Christmas tournament' (at Warren)," she said. "I tried to come back earlier. But my coach was like 'We want you to be ready to go in January.' "

Claver's coach in third grade was none other than Kuzmanic.

"Stephanie always coached me in summer camps," Claver said. "So it was funny when I saw her. She joked and said to me before the game 'make sure you don't use all the moves I taught you in third grade.' "

"And I've known her family a long time, too, so it was nice to see them (parents Bob and Teresa Kuzmanic were on hand) and Stephanie."

Stephanie's coach at Wheeling, Shelly Wiegel, was also on hand to watch her former star who went on to become a all-American at Carthage.

"Stephanie used to help coach our summer camps," said Wiegel, who led Wheeling to third place in the 2009 Class 4A state tourney. "She really liked it and she was always so competitive as a player so I am not surprised at all that she has become a head coach.

"As a point guard, she always understood many aspect so the game so it made sense she would go on to coach. Plus she was a captain and always a good leader."

Leading the Eagles (5-11) were senior guard Artasia Gusman (11 points, including 2 steals and layups) and senior forward Ginani Badillo (8).

Junior guard Annissa Lemon chipped in 4 points.

"To see how many people were here to see our coach and telling us how she was such a great all-American was really neat," Lemon said.

  Leyden's Ginani Badillo, left, strips the ball from the grasp of Wheeling's Kourtney Schuetz during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Wheeling's Morgan Collar makes a move to the basket in front of Leyden's Ginani Badillo during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Wheeling's Nansy Velev shoots as Leyden's Yulissa Perez defends during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  The ball pops loose as Leyden's Pamela Colmenares defends a drive to the basket by Wheeling's Kourtney Schuetz during Tuesday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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