It had been exactly one week since the Waubonsie Valley girls basketball team had played and the rest and time devoted to aspects of their game showed in a 69-54 home win Thursday night against Naperville Central.

The momentum in basketball, like most other sports, can change in a blink of an eye.The Naperville North girls basketball team showed this in its 67-36 win over host Waubonsie Valley on Thursday night in Aurora.

Trinity Strang and Naperville Central were crashing the boards all night, but Kailey Porter was doing her part to keep DeKalb competitive inside.Porter scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, but Stang had 14 of the Redhawks 40 boards and Naperville Central had three players in double figures in a 60-43 win over the Barbs on Tuesday in a DuPage Valley Conference game.“[Porter] played well,” said DeKalb coach Kelly Gerace, who was taking over head coach duties in the absence of Mark Sykes. “She’s a huge part of our team and when she gets the ball and looks to score she can be unstoppable.”

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.

At one point as she dribbled the basketball across the half-court line, Hersey point guard Katy Eidle shouted out for her team to run a play called ‘Wisconsin’. Seems a little funny because Eidle is a Michigan recruit. But there’s nothing funny for opponents when it comes to stopping Eidle. Especially on Saturday at Glenbrook South, as the 6-foot junior put up a career-high 34 points, bettering her previous high of 32 as a freshman against Bartlett. Classmate Meghan Mrowicki added 20 points with 13 rebounds (8 offensive) as Hersey (17-3), ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, rolled past the Titans 67-48 at the Titan Dome in Glenview.

Naperville North didn’t exactly head to the Montini Christmas Tournament on a high note, but the Huskies are surely leaving the event and the 2021 calendar year on quite a high.

Great teams typically have stars on the floor, but just as important are the teammates who surround those stars.In Wednesday afternoon action at the Montini Christmas Tournament, Naperville North sharpshooter Kenzie Hare — one of the top scorers in the state the last two seasons — was plagued by foul trouble and never really found her shooting stroke.But this year’s deep Huskies, who are now 15-2 on the year, managed just fine in their 66-57 defeat of a strong Lyons Township squad despite the fact that Hare scored just 11 points.

Oswego East grabbed a rebound, and head coach Abe Carretto immediately yelled “go, go, go.”It’s a command Riley Doggett and the Wolves don’t have to be told twice.“We definitely like to push the pace,” said Doggett, Oswego East’s junior guard. “We like to get out there and do our thing. We don’t like to slow things down so other teams can play their pace.”The Wolves certainly dictated that tempo Tuesday morning at the Oswego East Holiday Classic, and Metea Valley simply couldn’t keep up. Oswego East had eight steals and forced 13 turnovers in the first half alone to forge a 22-point halftime lead, and coasted to a 59-24 win.

Emilia Sularski set the tone for Benet’s hot-shooting night, drilling 5 of her 6 3-pointers in the first half to power Benet to a 71-61 victory over Naperville North in Lisle.Sularski, who was starting due to five Benet players missing the game, shot 6-for-10 from beyond the arc for a career-high 24 points. Time after time, the Huskies (12-1) left Sularski wide open to launch a 3-pointer.

Abby Drendel can sometimes get overshadowed on her own team.The Naperville North junior point guard is one of the key players on a team with Class 4A state championship aspirations.At times, Drendel’s all-around contributions can get lost due to her numerous high-profile teammates, namely newcomer Kenzie Hare. The Saint Louis recruit, a transfer from Bartlett, is one of the top scorers in the state.