Multi-Sport Athletes Guide YHS Girls Hoops

You may recognize several of the names on Yorkville High School girl's basketball roster.

As a freshman this past spring, Corrine Rowe helped Yorkville's win a regional title and was an honorable mention all-conference selection. At around the same time, Brittany Straznickas .

More recently this fall, Straznickas and senior Jordann Dhuse helped the volleyball team establish . Finally, in early November, Ali Hester finished sixth in the state to help the Lady Foxes win their .

After demonstrating their fantastic athletic abilities in cross country, soccer, softball and volleyball, the four have now turned their attention to the hardwood this winter as key players of the Yorkville girls basketball team.

"They're an athletic group and we use that," Yorkville coach Luke Engelhardt said. "We try to put a lot of pressure on the ball using our athleticism. They're playing great defense. We still have to work on our scoring a bit more but hopefully that defense will help our offensive side throughout the year."

It's proven to be a neat little mix of various talent so far for the Lady Foxes.

"We all bring our own talents which is great," Dhuse said. "Ali can run forever and Corrine is really fast from playing softball. It all just works really well together."

Through Monday, Dec. 12, the Lady Foxes are 4-3 overall and 1-2 during play in the Northern Illinois Big 12 East Conference.

"Very early in practices we could tell how far ahead we were from last year," Dhuse said. "We knew it would be a great season for us and we've been playing well as a team, so it's been a good year so far."

Yorkville opened the season by winning its first two games in the Illinois Math & Science Academy (IMSA) Tournament. The Lady Foxes cruised past Timothy Christian, 40-21, behind 10 points and 10 rebounds from Hester and then dropped IMSA, 37-29, behind a 14-point outburst from Dhuse. The team settled for second place in the tournament, losing, 43-23, to Rock Island.

Conference play began on Dec. 2 and the Lady Foxes helped DeKalb christen its new gymnasium. After getting blown out twice by the Barbs last season, the Lady Foxes battled hard, but ultimately came up short, 45-35.

"They're picked to win the conference and are just loaded this year with great players," Engelhardt said. "We kept it close, which was nice to see, and I think it was an eye-opener and we showed we can play with anybody on our schedule."

Dhuse scored 15 points to help Yorkville return to its winning ways, beating Plano, 38-30, on Dec. 3. The Lady Foxes followed with their first conference victory of the season on Dec. 6, beating Sycamore, 46-41. Paige Beach had a breakthrough game shooting the ball, leading the team with 14 points.

Unfortunately, the Lady Foxes couldn't make it three straight victories, as they dropped a heartbreaking, double-overtime thriller at Rochelle, 64-56, on Dec. 9.

"We had the game won but our free throw shooting shot us in the foot," Engelhardt said. "And we gave it away with a couple of mental mistakes."

Through seven games, Dhuse is averaging a team-best 11.4 points per game, followed by Hester (9.4) and Beach (8.7). Hester is averaging nearly 10 rebounds per contest, Dhuse has 27 steals and Rowe leads the squad with 15 assists.

While Beach, Dhuse and Hester are responsible for nearly 70 percent of the team's offensive output, the Lady Foxes are by no means a three-headed team, receiving contributions up and down the roster.

Other notable players for the Lady Foxes are Rowe, Straznickas, Nikki Hills, Cara Schlichting and freshman Kendall McDermott.

"We have 11 on the team and everyone can play," Engelhardt said. "We usually go seven or eight deep, but they get a lot of minutes and everybody plays."

It's also a close group that gets along well.

"I think we're all working together," Dhuse said. "I know the seniors lead a little bit more and the younger ones follow the example, but all of us are working together and it's all working really well."

While defense has been the team's strength, it has also been the igniter of the team's offense, which has been inconsistent at times.

"We seem to rush all our shots. We'll get the ball and then freak out and shoot too fast," Hester said. "I've been missing too many easy, two-foot shots. We're working on that a lot. It's a lot of shooting stuff now and I think that should help us out."

The Lady Foxes like to pressure opponents and they like to run, which bodes extremely well for Hester, who rarely leaves the floor unless she gets into foul trouble. While their defensive pressure leads to scoring opportunities via turnovers, the Lady Foxes aren't finishing enough chances.

"Our defense triggers our offense and we're scoring most of our points off of steals and rebounds," Engelhardt said. "In the half court, we're still working and seeing a lot of zones. You can shoot yourself into games and shoot yourself out of games.

"Our shooting has gone up in the last few games and with the way we play defensively we should stay in the games. We shouldn't have a game where we get blown out."

Yorkville will conclude play in 2011 by traveling to the Ottawa Tournament beginning on Dec. 17. The Lady Foxes will look to better the 2-2 record they compiled a season ago, but it won't come easy with games already scheduled against Pontiac and East Aurora. They’ll continue conference play in January.

"It's a good tournament and a chance to see teams we wouldn't see in our conference," Engelhardt said. "It's going to be a good test to see how we do and I think we can do pretty well there. I would like to try to get three wins."