Presenting the 2021-2022 DuPage County All-Area Girls Basketball Team

Despite only returning to the starting lineup Tuesday, Wheaton North senior guard Caroline Gaither isn’t playing tentative basketball.Gaither was able to be more assertive offensively Thursday after the Falcons were tied at halftime of the Class 4A Hoffman Estates regional final against DuKane Conference rival Lake Park.

A wave of emotion appeared to crash over Eva Saltsman as she exited the floor for her curtain call. Saltsman was one of three St. Charles North seniors, along with Erin Stack and Morgan Klug, to celebrate Senior Night with the North Stars’ 50-31 girls basketball win over Lake Park on Thursday.

When the final second ticked off the clock, the Wheaton North girls celebrated as if they had just clinched a conference title or claimed a regional, but in fact it was just a road victory in the rugged DuKane Conference.

St. Charles East senior Torrie Kortan smiled just a little more than usual following the Saints’ 51-45 DuKane Conference victory over Lake Park Thursday night in St. Charles.

Lake Park coach Brian Rupp could finally breathe a little easier.Starting the second half on a 13-0 run, Lake Park led 38-16 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.The Lancers had to stave off a valiant comeback effort by Fenwick in posting a 52-44 win in consolation action of the Dundee-Crown 38th Annual Komaromy Classic Wednesday afternoon in Carpentersville.

Nicole McLaughlin hardly appeared to break a sweat. With an understandable amount of defensive attention on the Batavia combo of sophomore guard Brooke Carlson and senior forward Tessa Towers, McLaughlin — the Bulldogs’ senior guard — can still find her spots to make an impact in whatever way she can. “I’m pretty sure if we went and logged it, Nicole probably logged the most minutes of anybody tonight,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said following Batavia’s 59-46 victory over Lake Park in their DuKane Conference opening slate on Wednesday.

Here’s a look at the girls basketball season in the DuKane