Top basketball players of the century: Girls No. 8, Sarah Boothe of Warren
Editors note: The Daily Herald is counting down the Top Ten boys and girls basketball players of the century in our coverage area. We continue today with No. 8 - Mark Pancratz of Schaumburg and Sarah Boothe of Warren.
Her dad was one of the best hitters in Northern Illinois University baseball history. Two of her uncles played college football at Northwestern. Another uncle was a Division III All-America baseball player. A pair of female cousins were college track stars.
So when Sarah Boothe stepped on the court as a freshman for the Warren varsity basketball team's season opener in November of 2004, there were big expectations.
Oh, and she stood 6 feet 4 with a skill set advanced for her age. A quintessential center, she had soft hands, soft feet, good court awareness and a better work ethic.
"She'd be a good basketball player for an upperclassman," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said just before the start of the 2004-05 season.
By the time she graduated from the Gurnee high school in 2008, Boothe had long surpassed being a "good" basketball player. The daughter of Mark and Rose piled up 2,038 points and 1,079 rebounds, and remains one of the best players in Lake County history and easily the best Stanczykiewicz has coached in his 21 seasons with the Blue Devils.
Warren went 113-16 in Boothe's four seasons, winning four North Suburban Conference (55-1 record), four regional and three sectional championships. The Blue Devils went downstate her freshman year. Her senior campaign was her best. Besides being named captain of the Daily Herald Lake County All-Area team for the third year in a row after averaging 20.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, she was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, Ms. Illinois Basketball, Parade All-America Third Team and McDonald's All-America honorable mention.
She has a banner hanging in Warren's gym.
Equally talented as a student, the 6-5 Boothe earned a scholarship to Stanford. She plays professionally in Greece.
"You probably will not find a harder worker than Sarah," Warren teammate Erin Norwood said in 2008. "She pushes herself and those around her."