Out for the season with a knee injury, Kendall Walch started Thursday on Senior Night and was allowed to score the game’s first basket.

Willowbrook rallied from 7 points down in the second half to beat York 51-46 in a West Suburban Conference girls basketball crossover game Wednesday night.

On Friday in Hoffman Estates, the Strauch vs. Strauch Mid-Suburban West girls basketball match takes place again, just one week after Conant coach Todd Strauch and his Cougars edged Schaumburg coach Jacqie Strauch’s Saxons, 42-38.

Willowbrook had an up close look at the growing Emily Fisher hype train. The Warriors were on the unfortunate end of Fisher putting her imprint on a stunning Libertyville comeback in the 32nd Annual Coach Derril Kipp Hoopsfest in Lisle.

With three sophomores in the starting lineup, the future is exceptionally bright for the Nazareth girls basketball program.As it turns out, so is the present.Continuing to raise the bar despite their youth, the Roadrunners won their 13th game in a row with a hard-fought 51-37 nonconference victory over Willowbrook Thursday before a big crowd in La Grange Park.

One of the Northwest suburbs’ girls basketball teams currently on the biggest roll is Maine South, which has won eight of its last nine games through Monday.

The Addison Trail girls basketball team is relying on a pair of three-year varsity players to their best regular season start in over 15 years.Seniors Mary Velez and Quiana Birmingham are the backbone of the one of the best Blazer teams in recent decades.The Blazers (13-6, 6-1 West Suburban Gold) have built off last season’s showing, led by the production and leadership of Velez and Birmingham.

When teams return to Mid-Suburban League girls basketball action on Friday night, Fremd and Prospect will each hold one-game leads in their respective West and East divisions. And the two teams will hardly be void of momentum. They are the only two from the conference who are coming off championship runs at holiday tournaments.

Freshman Sara Abdul erupted for a career-high 23 points and four-year starter Claire Hyde added 21 points, five rebounds and four assists as the fourth-seeded Falcons knocked off top-seeded and previously unbeaten Willowbrook 60-50 on Monday in the semifinals of the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic.

Girls basketball teams from the Northwest suburbs will be looking for championships at three holiday tournaments that begin on Monday of next week.