Blitt Shooting to Success on the Court

Whether it’s knocking down three-pointers on the basketball court or , Rachel Blitt usually shows off her athletic ability.

The Glenbrook North senior is a three-year starter on the varsity girls basketball team and will have the same title for the softball team come spring time. While Blitt has been on a pair of regionals winning softball teams, the basketball teams haven’t fared as well. That is until this year.

As a result, Blitt got a little creative with her goal for her final season.

“My original goal was to win more games than we had put together the last two years and that would be 14,” Blitt said after scoring a game-high 22 points in a 67-53 win over Guerin Prep on Dec. 22. “I definitely think we’re going to accomplish that.”

The Spartans share the lead in the Central Suburban League North and already have double digit wins, something they didn’t do in Blitt’s two previous years on varsity, at the season’s midway point.

The 5-foot-5 guard is the second leading scorer on the team behind Gracie Sanchez. Last year Blitt was the team’s top scoring option, but having a quality inside presence has opened up more shooting opportunities.

“Rachel is a great shooter,” GBN coach Renee Brosnan said. “I think she’s getting more looks and I think she’s making a lot of them. Last year and the year before she’s been getting looks and she’s been making them, but now I think she knows that it’s her role. She’s the guard that we need and Gracie is the post that we need.”

Blitt fits the title of shooting guard perfectly. She poured in five three-pointers against Guerin and is always looking to get an open look at the basket.

“Shooting is just what I like to do,” Blitt said. “That’s what I work on most usually because that’s what I do most of the time in the game. I think I’ve been working on it and it’s been paying off.”

It paid off enough to earn her a spot on the all-tournament team at Mundelein’s Thanksgiving tournament. After leading the Spartans in scoring in the first two games, both wins, of St. Viator’s Snowflake Tournament Blitt could find herself on another all-tournament team.

Blitt has been playing basketball for as long as she can remember, but she also puts a lot of time into softball. She became interested in softball because her dad was ‘a baseball guy’ as she put it and her older sister also played. Blitt even coached youth softball this summer, but don’t make her choose between the two sports.

“They’re totally different,” Blitt said. “I just like competitive games.”

Blitt is a fierce competitor, but catch her during a break in the action and odds are she’s chatting up a teammate, making a joke or laughing at someone else’s. Once the game gets going again she’s focused. It’s that attitude that has her making creative goals and striving to break them.

“Obviously I’m not done here and my team’s not done here so we gotta keep going,” she said.