Hononegah next team standing in Maine West's path to state title

After a 62-39 triumph over Rockton Hononegah in the semifinals of the Komaromy Classic at Dundee-Crown in December, Maine West girls basketball coach Kim de Marigny was quite relieved.

"I remember breathing a sigh of relief," she said. "I said 'OK, we've gotten past them.' "

Little did she know there would be a rematch two months later.

And it's a semifinal again - but this time for a berth to play in the Class 4A state championship game.

The top-ranked Warriors (33-0) will face No. 7 Hononegah (32-4) at 7:15 p.m. on Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal. The first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. matches No. 6 Benet against No. 10 Mother McAuley.

"We've played Hononegah in all three of my years at Dundee-Crown," said de Marigny, who took over after the passing of legendary hall of fame coach Derril Kipp, who led the Warriors to the 1988 state championship with an undefeated 35-0 record.

"And we know every time we step on the court with them, they're well-coached, well prepared and it will be a battle from the tip."

The Warriors' toughest battle in the state tourney was a 55-50 overtime win over Evanston for the sectional championship.It was their third win this season over the Wildkits.

"I'll say playing Evanston on their home court (college size) is a difficult test to be thrown at us and making it tougher is that we were playing them for a third time," said de Marigny, whose team took third in Class 4A last year. "Now this will be our second game against Hononegah. We know it's tournament time and you can't overlook anyone."

When the two teams met in Carpentersville, Hononegah coach Randy Weibel said his club's deficiencies were exposed.

"But I think a game like that only makes you better," said the Indians' 20th-year coach, who owns a 677-264 record in 31 years (11 at Mendota). "We played Rockford Boylan a few games after that Maine West game and lost by 7 points. After those two games, we made some adjustments and changed things."

The Indians haven't lost since and come into the semifinal on a 14-game winning streak.

"I think our kids are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time," said Weibel, whose daughter Courtney (Ludois) is an assistant in the Fremd program and a former Hononegah and Marquette standout.

Coincidentally, Weibel's top player this season, senior Jordan King, is headed to play for Marquette.

The 5-foot-11 guard, who was named Associated Press first-team all-state on Thursday, averages 21.2 points with 214 rebounds and 98 assists. King scored a game-high 26 points against Maine West the first time.

Senior guard Hannah Malcomsom (5-7) averages 9.8 points for the Northern Illinois Conference-10 powerhouse while 6-foot senior forward Cali Schmitz is at 8.3.

The Indians' only losses are to Peoria Richwoods (64-56), Boylan (66-59), Fenwick (47-37) and Maine West.

"They're phenomenal," said de Marigny, who owns a 94-5 record in three seasons. "They've got some phenomenal players and they are relentless."

Senior Jocelyn Jacob and junior Angela Dugalic, a second-team all-stater, each scored 18 points for West in the win over Hononegah while senior Rachel Kent, another girl who was named first-team all-state Thursday, had 11 and junior Dylan Van Fleet added 10.

"We have to shut them down defensively," Van Fleet said about her second appearance in a state semifinal (Warriors lost to Geneva in last year's semifinal). "And we have to work hard on both ends of the floor to get the greatest outcome."

Van Fleet's mother (Lisa Nicholson) was part of Maine West's greatest outcome in 1988 when the Warriors won the state championship over York.

"It's super amazing," Van Fleet said of the experience of two state finals. "It's something I've been hoping to do since I was a little kid and heard the stories from my mom when she was in the state finals in Champaign. So to be able to experience it and live in her footsteps is amazing."

Like her mother's team, Van Fleet is also experiencing it with a team that has yet to lose a game.

"It certainly is a positive (being undefeated) but we have to focus on playing like we always do," Van Fleet said. "It's a different feeling but we just have to keep fighting, keep up our hard work and do our best to get the best results we can."

Hononegah is hoping to reverse the results from two months ago.

"We won't be overwhelmed by playing Maine West," said Weibel, who is retiring from his post following the season. "I just worry about the bright lights and the lack of experience playing down there. It's good that we're playing them a second time. We have enough on tape from the Dundee-Crown game so I think it is an advantage instead of playing them for the first time."

This is the first time since that 1988 team that West is downstate with an undefeated record. During the regular season, the Warriors won their games by an average of 29.7 points.

The Warriors have three girls averaging in double figures - Kent (14.2), Dugalic (13.2) and Van Fleet (11.4) followed by Jacobs (7.6) and Vanessa Reyes (7.6).

Van Fleet leads the team with 118 assists and Dugalic leads in rebounds (287).

"They're difficult to guard," Weibel said. "You can try to take away their inside game and they'll beat you on the perimeter. Take away the outside and they can beat you inside.

"The biggest thing for us is that we have to rebound the basketball and run. We've been a better rebounding team since Christmas and that has been our emphasis. That is the key for us."

Maine West is hoping to turn away two opponents in two days for a second state title.

"We would really like to complete this task," de Marigny said. "We are going to give it our best shot."