Silver Streak girls
getting ready for new season
By John Ring
For the smooth running engine
better known as the Silver Streak girls basketball program, it was business as
usual last week.
They resumed their busy schedule
of summer basketball by hosting a tournament at Galesburg High School. The
Streaks and Coach Evan Massey already held one at GHS and participated at
another in suburban Chicago and in Wisconsin. TheyÕll head to North Carolina in
a week.
ÒItÕs always a little different
but this year, we lost our top two scorers,Ó said Massey, alluding to the
graduation of Brenna Saline and Claire Anderson. ÒThe nucleus of the team is
back because we return three starters and weÕre looking at who we can fill the
rest of the lineup with.Ó
Those starters are post players
Kelly Ricketts and Rachel Pendry and point guard Taylor Young. And if there can
be such a thing as a murderous summer schedule, the Streaks have already faced
that. ÒWhether itÕs fortunate or unfortunate, weÕve played a hard schedule this
summer,Ó said Massey. The Streaks have played virtually every projected
powerhouse in the suburbs--- from Buffalo Grove to Bolingbrook to Schaumburg to
Fenwick and Maine West.
ÒWeÕre right around the .500
mark but whatÕs great is that youÕre able to identify your areas that you need
to improve on. ItÕs a tough schedule.Ó
Over the weekend, the Streaks
took on a team from Rochester that finished in the Final Four of Class A and
Bloomington High School, a team that figures to make the Super Sectionals next
year. Galesburg won both of them.
A new player is catching the eye
of Streak fans and thatÕs freshman Jessica Howard. The 5Õ7Ó guard played with
the Streak starters and showed a knack of getting open and a deadly shot.
ÒSheÕs one of our better shooters,Ó said Massey. ÒThereÕs some other areas of
her game she needs to work on but because of the fact we lost a lot of scoring,
weÕre looking at her to fill a role like that.Ó
Galesburg is coming off a season
in which they finished with a 30-4 record—three of those losses came to
Morton but they also ran the table in
the Western Big 6 and won the conference title by going undefeated. ÒThe
last game we lost to Morton, things didnÕt go our way,Ó said Ricketts.
ÒEveryone feels the same about that. I think it will serve as a motivational
tool for us next year.Ó
Absent from the team was
Courtney Knuth, a sophomore reserve from last year. But the Streaks sophomore
team looks to have a lot of young talent and some other varsity players
returning have improved their game. ÒOne of our most pleasant surprises has
been Stefanie Baker,Ó said Massey. ÒMike Rux has always said that high school
player developments are never smooth, that thereÕs big spurts that you see
sometimes and thatÕs very true. It happens at different stages of their high
school careers.Ó
Baker
made a new commitment to the program after a talk with Brenna Saline shortly
after the season ended. ÒBrenna said that as a senior, you need to step up, you
need to take greater responsibility. She set that example for all of us last
year. WeÕre good friends and it just came up. I wanted some different results
from last year so I spent the better part of the Spring in the weight room and
the gym and itÕs paying off for me already.Ó
The
Streaks have tweaked their schedule. Sterling is gone and replaced by
Bloomington. Canton has been added. But the corps schools are intact that
Massey feels Galesburg could run into during the course of the Class 3A
tournament. ÒChanging classes shouldnÕt affect our Sectional and Super
Sectional,Ó said Massey.
More important is the commitment
the players seem to be making to the program; unfortunately that isnÕt
occurring with the boys program.
ÒOur goal is pretty much the
same,Ó said junior post Katie Hosteng. ÒWe want to go as far as we can into the
tournament. That never changes.Ó
Neither does MasseyÕs philosophy
of preparing the team by using the summer wars on the court. ÒFor a player like
Jessica Howard, going up against the kind of teams and players we are right now
is going to prepare her for the season,Ó said Massey. ÒIt isnÕt going to be so
much of a shock for her.Ó
As the Streaks coach spoke,
Howard and Ricketts were staying after the Rochester game, working on their
shooting skills. They stayed for a good thirty minutes, played another game that
night and three more the next day during the hottest part of the summer.
ÒWe know how important this time
of year is,Ó said Ricketts.
SheÕs right. This is the time a
team is made.
After the Silver Streaks edged Rochester in a
summer basketball game, Galesburg Coach Evan Massey talked about several topics
in a hot and humid John Thiel Gym.
The IHSA increasing the number of classes from
two to four next season: ÒMy feeling is itÕs bad for basketball. I guess everyone will
adjust to this in three to four years but it will be different at first. This
wonÕt affect our Sectional or Super Sectional but I donÕt like it. So if we win
the Class #A Tournament, could we have beat the Class 4A team? ItÕs an
unnecessary adjustment. But weÕll run with it and set our goals even higher.Ó
The most improved player this summer: ÒTaylor Young. SheÕs
improved her shooting and is developing great confidence in it.Ó
Freshman Jessica Howard: ÒSheÕs one of our better
shooters and we lost two of our top scorers in Brenna Saline and Claire
Anderson. ThereÕs other areas of
the game she needs to work on but for her age, thatÕs understandable. SheÕs
been going up against some great
players this summer and thatÕs good for her. SheÕs responding well.Ó
On breaking in new broadcasters and sports
writers that cover the Streaks: ÒWhen you donÕt go to State for several years,
sometimes you have to clean house.Ó (Note– The Streaks coach was laughing
about this one.)
New Assistant Coach Jaque Howard: ÒWeÕre going to
miss Steve Peachey and we already do but Jaque brings a lot to the program. The
kids respect her, basketball-wise and she really has the ability to interact
with them.Ó
7/19/07