Maine West’s girls basketball team completed quite a journey in winning the Class 4A third-place game 45-41 against Edwardsville on Saturday at Redbird Arena in Normal.

Geneva’s girls basketball team will get a shot at back-to-back Class 4A state championships after the Vikings defeated Maine West 58-41 Friday night in the state semifinals at Redbird Arena in Normal. Geneva will play Montini Saturday night for the title.

Introducing the Daily Herald’s Northwest girls basketball all-area team, featuring players from the Mid-Suburban League plus St. Viator, Leyden and Maine West.

Making its first appearance in the state finals sicne 1993, Maine West’s girls basketball team (31-1) will face defending Class 4A state champion Geneva (29-3) at 7:15 p.m on Friday in the 7:15 p.m. semifinal at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena.

Defending champion Geneva and Maine West are set to do battle Friday night in the second semifinal of the Class 4A girls basketball state semifinal at Redbird Arena in Normal.

Maine West’s Alisa Fallon and Rachel Kent have been selected to captain the Daily Herald’s Northwest girls basketball all-area team.

Bianca Mando is not one of the starters for Maine West’s girls basketball team. But proving once again the importance of bench players, the 5-foot-8 senior guard hit 4 key throws in the final 1:53 of Monday night’s Class 4A Hersey supersectional to help the Warriors hold off Lake Zurich 52-42.

Maine West (30-1) and Lake Zurich (20-10) will tip off at 7 p.m. Monday in the Class 4A Hersey supersectional to determine who lands a spot in Friday’s state semifinals at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena.

With its large contingent of fans and student body making the short trip to Maine East High School, it was almost as if top-seeded Maine West was playing a home game as it pulled away for a 57-46 victory over No. 3 Loyola in the championship game of the Class 4A sectional.

Maine’s West’s state-ranked girls basketball team went on a 22-8 run to close out the semifinal game of the Class 4A Maine East sectional for a 52-38 over the Central Suburban South co-champion New Trier. Top-seeded Maine West (29-1) advanced to Thursday’s 7 p.m. championship game against No. 3 Loyola (25-5).

It’s down to Maine West, Rolling Meadows and St. Viator as far as the girls basketball teams from Cook County still playing in the IHSA state tournament. Action resumes on Monday night for Maine West while St. Viator and Rolling Meadows wait until Tuesday for their next contests.

The Maine West and St. Viator girls basketball teams each won regional crowns on Thursday night, while Fremd saw its season ended with a 31-29 loss to Grayslake Central at the Zion-Benton regional

Fremd’s girls basketball team rallied from 34-26 halftime deficit and an 8-point deficit with five minutes left to keep its season alive with a 48-45 win over No. 13 seeded Wheeling in the semifinal of the Class 4A Zion Benton regional.

Maine West’s girls basketball team finished its second-best regular season in school history on Saturday with a 60-24 triumph at Vernon Hills. The win gave the Warriors a 26-1 record, second only to the 1987-88 Class AA state championship team that went 27-0. That club was coached by the late hall of famer Derril Kipp, who directed many of this year’s players on the Warriors’ team three years ago.

In a sporting gesture, Maine West allowed Lake Zurich senior Eleni Papstratakos to score the first game of Monday’s nonconference girls basketball matchup. After that, it was all Warriors on the Bears’ senior night.

The defending Mid-Suburban League girls basketball champs, Hersey’s Huskies, are back to defend their title in Wednesday’s title game. Led by Emily Collins (18 points), Katie McGrath (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Maesyn Benjamin (11 points, 7 rebounds), the Huskies got past host Buffalo Grove 58-50 to finish at 8-2, tied for first with Rolling Meadows in the MSL East.

Wauconda junior forward Allie Tylka has earned Daily Herald MVP honors for her recent high school girls basketball performances.

Going up against Class 4A No. 10-ranked Marist and its 19-4 record, No. 5 Maine West’s girls basketball team looked sharp in its penultimate home game on Monday night in Des Plaines. Once again, the Warriors executed in all phases of the game and posted a convincing 77-50 nonconference triumph over the East Suburban Catholic Conference power.

Senior guard Tayler Williams scored a game-high 20 points with five 3-pointers to help Hoffman Estates stun seven-time defending Mid-Suburban West girls basketball champion Fremd 49-39. Junior Raven Wilson added 13 points and sophomore Nora Thomas 7 for the Hawks

Maine West defeated Benet in a girls basketball game at the Coach Kipp’s Hoopfest in Villa Park.

Barrongton girls basketball coach Babbi Barreiro got her 400th career win in dramatic fashion by handing Fremd its first loss in the Mid-Suburban West since the 2012-13 season. Taylor Thompson scored 26 points to lead the Fillies to the 44-40 win in Palatine.

Buffalo Grove’s girls basketball team broke an 11-game losing with a 46-33 win over visiting Conant in Tuesday’s Mid-Suburban League crossover. Sophomore Kendra Lee led the way with 15 points, her fourth double-digit scoring performance of the season.

No. 3-ranked Geneva, which led by 17 points in the second half, held on for a 55-53 victory over No. 5 Maine West at Saturday’s Chicagoland Invitational Showcase at Benet High School

Glenbard South junior Maggie Bair has earned Daily Herald MVP honors for her recent high school girls basketball performances.

Maine West’s girls basketball team is off to a 16-0 start after winning its second straight Komaromy Classic on Friday night at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville with a 54-33 victory over Trinity (River Forest).

Maine West’s girls basketball team scored the first 13 points of the second half and never looked back in a 59-42 semifinal triumph over Hononegah on Thursday. The Warriors (16-0) will try to defend their 2016 Komaromy Classic championship at Dundee-Crown at 8 p.m. Friday when they face Trinity (9-3) of River Forest.

Conant’s girls basketball team built a 29-24 halftime lead and prevailed 44-35 over Rolling Meadows at the Libertyville tournament on Wednesday while Maine West advanced to the championship of the Komaromy Classic at Dundee-Crown High School with a 63-40 win over Fenwick.

Palatine’s girls basketball team won its first game at the 34th annual Bill Neibch Falcon Classic with a 54-17 victory over Elgin.

Maine West raced out to a commanding 37-6 lead after one quarter en route to a 77-34 win over visiting Bartlett in Monday’s nonconference girls basketball game in Des Plaines.

Maine West standout guard Alisa Fallon, who has helped lead the Warriors to an 12-0 record this winter, has signed a letter of intent to play at Army.

Prospect’s girls basketball team built a 30-19 lead at intermission and then held off host Buffalo Grove for a 57-55 triumph on Friday night. The win raised the Knights’ record to 7-2 and 3-0 in the Mid-Suburban East, where they are tied for first with Rolling Meadows (8-4, 3-0). The Knights will host the Mustangs on Thursday night.

The undefeated Maine West girls basketball team has earned the top seed for the 35th Annual Komaromy Classic Tournament at Dundee-Crown.

Fremd’s girls basketball team is young but the Vikings keep finding ways to win. With sophomore Emily Klaczek leading the way with 18 points, the Vikings held on for a dramatic 48-47 win over Vernon Hills, which missed a shot at the buzzer in the Exam Jamm game at Lake Zurich High School on Tuesday night.

Trailing 25-16 at half, Prospect’s girls basketball team couldn’t have had a more productive intermission break. “We were in the locker room and had a motivating talk,” said Knights senior guard Margherite Pettenuzzo. Things came together quite nicely for the Knights, who rallied for a 44-42 triumph over visiting Hersey at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.

Coach Kipp’s Hoopsfest is the new name for the girls basketball showcase event organized by Jim O’Boye and held at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park.

One of the most dominant starts to a girls basketball season this area has seen continued on Tuesday night in Des Plaines. Maine West, entering the Central Suburban North opener with a 45.6 average margin of victory through eight games, cruised to another lopsided triumph, 65-25, over Highland Park.

Jessica Riedl, a multiple-year all-area volleyball player for Maine West, is looking to play the sport in college. But basketball teams who are playing Maine West this season better be looking for Riedl. The 6-foot senior forward came off the bench to contribute 12 points and 9 rebounds in the Warriors’ 60-51 triumph over Beaver Dam, the Division II defending Wisconsin girls basketball state champion.

Senior Emily Frasco scored a game-high 25 points with three 3-pointers to lead Prospect’s girls basketball team to a 62-51 victory in Friday’s Mid-Suburban League East opener at Elk Grove on Friday night. Jessica Kowalcyzk added 12 points for the Knights (4-2, 1-0) followed by Abbey Danciu (8), Ashley Adams (6) and Margherite Pettenuzzo (5).

The fourth annual Chicagoland Invitational Showcase will feature nonstop girls basketball action in two gymnasiums at Fremd on Saturday. Twenty two teams from Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, including 17 Division 1 recruits and 60 uncommitted future D-I players, will compete from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Bartlett senior guard Kayla Hare has earned first Daily Herald MVP honor of the girls basketball season for her recent performances.

Maine West’s impressive start continued on Tuesday night in Des Plaines. After winning its five games at the Hoffman Estates Pilgrim Classic by an average of 52.8 points, the Warriors girls basketball team posted a 60-35 win over Glenbrook South, which entered the game with a 5-0 record.

Maine West’s girls basketball team won five games in the Hoffman Estates fifth annual “Pilgrim Classic’ by an average of 52.8 points and claimed the title on Saturday night with an 80-37 win over Lake Park (4-1).

After going 0-5 at the Schaumburg Thanksgiving tournament one year ago, St. Viator’s girls basketball team came back with a 3-2 record this season. The Class 3A Lions won their third straight game over a Class 4A team on Friday, defeating Evanston 61-57 on the final day of the long-running six-team round robin.

Rolling Meadows’ girls basketball team earned its first win of the season on Friday night, posting a 74-51 decision over host Lake Zurich (0-2) in the Turkey Thriller tournament. The Mustangs (1-1) were led by senior Melissa Spiwak’s career-high 20 points while junior Alexa Davis added a career-high 18.

Elk Grove’s girls basketball team evened its record to 1-1 in the Vernon Hills tournament on Thursday night with a 48-44 victory over Sycamore. Zoe Blomquist (11 points, 6 rebounds), Megan Murray (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) and Rachel Kandefer (9 points, 15 rebounds) helped leads the Grenadiers.

Here’s what to expect from the Maine West girls basketball team this season.

A balanced attack in which 14 of 15 girls made it into the scoring column led Maine West’s girls basketball team to a 65-26 victory over Proviso West in the opening round of the fifth annual ‘Pilgrim Classic’ Thanksgiving tournament at Hoffman Estates High School.

The first recipients of the “Coach Kipp Scholarship of Recognition Award’ have been announced. Maine West seniors Accacia Hernandez and Ashley Burton, who were members of this year’s Maine West girls basketball team which advanced to the sectional finals, earned the honor named for Warriors hall of fame girls basketball coach Derril Kipp. Last Dec. 2, the Maine West spectator gymnasium was filled with fans and alumni of the school’s girls basketball program to remember Kipp, who passed away last July from pancreatic cancer.