Dundee-Crown, Montini once again tournaments to watch
Not much has changed for next week's area girls basketball holiday tournaments.
Dundee-Crown once again is hosting its annual Charger Komaromy Christmas Classic. In addition to the host Chargers, St. Charles North, South Elgin and Hampshire are part of the 16-team field.
The Whip-Purs play the final game of the opening night against Stevenson. Dundee-Crown opens with Buffalo Grove at 4 just after St. Charles North plays Trinity. South Elgin faces Fenwick at 7.
Geneva, Batavia and Huntley also are headed back to the same tournament they have been entering for years, the Montini Holiday Tournament. Geneva again drew the 8 a.m. game on Dec. 26 against York.
The Vikings lost the last two years in tight games to Montini including in last year's championship game by 2 points. Of course Geneva got its revenge by beating Montini in the Class 4A state championship game.
Junior Lindsay Blackmore leads the Vikings in scoring and rebounding as she has adjusted smoothly to a much bigger role.
"I've learned from all the people before me, Margaret Whitely, Steph Hart and all those people," Blackmore said. "It's nice to step into that role they have been in."
Huntley takes the court after Geneva at 9:45 a.m. against Mother McAuley, and Batavia plays at 11:30 a.m. against Marist.
Wheaton North's Falcon Holiday Classic has always featured a number of Fox schools and this year is no exception.
Bartlett earned the fourth seed and opens at 3 p.m. on the 26th against Glenbard North. West Aurora plays Jacobs in the first round while Elgin battles Willowbrook and St. Charles East meets Glenbrook South.
The Libertyville Tournament includes Cary-Grove and Streamwood.
Kaneland might make the longest trek as it travels to Decatur Eisenhower while Burlington Central heads west to the Dixon Tournament.
St. Edward and Rosary again play in the Lisle Holiday Classic and begin with Addison Trail and Chicago Christian, respectively.
Injury updates: Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said they hope to get good news soon on sharpshooting senior guard Hailey Orman's wrist.
The news wasn't good at Aurora Christian. After losing senior center Dannielle Lopez to a torn ACL in the Eagles' first game of the season, Aurora Christian watched as senior guard Lauren Richert tore her ACL in Saturday's win over Indian Creek.
"Obviously it's a tough blow," Aurora Christian coach Burney Wilkie said.
South Elgin's Aryanna Williams is out six weeks with a broken foot. She is the Storm's second-leading scorer.
Preparing for the FVC: Burlington Central coach Mark Smith had a quick explanation for the additions of Batavia and Dundee-Crown to the Rockets' schedule.
"We can't play conference teams all the time especially we are moving into the Fox Valley next year," Smith said of the school's move from the Kishwaukee River to the FVC.
"There's no nights off in the Fox Valley. We felt preparing for the postseason this was the best way to do it."
Bartlett's bright future: With two sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup, and just one senior seeing heavy minutes, Bartlett is not just rolling along this year at 11-2 but poised for some big years going forward.
Justina Hernandez is one of those sophomores who has seen her team improve from early losses to Homewood-Flossmore and Benet.
"We started off a little shaky. We're very young. We are working more together as a team, making the extra pass and stuff like that," said Hernandez, who likes her role as a playmaker on a team filled with shooters - the Hawks just set a school record with sixteen 3-pointers Monday.
"I try to become more active on defense because I know there's all kind of shooters on my team. Try to get as many deflections and steals as I can. I try to penetrate and kick when I can. I'm more of a driver than a shooter."
Rivalry night: The Hawks put their 9-game winning streak on the line against South Elgin on Friday in a battle for first place in the Upstate Eight Conference.
That's just one of several intriguing matchups that includes Elgin/Larkin, East Aurora/West Aurora, St. Charles East/St. Charles North and Geneva/Batavia. Each girls game is followed by the boys.
In addition, Hampshire plays Sycamore in a nonconference matchup that features the Spartans' Iowa State bound Kylie Feuerbach and the Whip-Purs' Kelby Bannerman.
"She (Bannerman) has been very efficient on the offensive end of the floor," Hampshire coach Mike Featherly said. "She is not taking a ton of shots to get her points which has been nice. Plus she is starting to become more of an inside/outside player which makes her more dangerous."