The end of February means that it is playoff time for many of the winter sports teams. Here is a look at each team’s season so far, and their upcoming (or already completed) regional and sectional events.
Boys Basketball:
The boys basketball team is 13-15 in the regular season, with a 7-7 conference record. They have played a difficult schedule, losing to ranked opponents Evanston, Conant, Prospect, Fremd and Stevenson (twice). The season ended with a loss to Glenbrook North in a regional game.
Girls Basketball:
The girls finished the regular season with a 16-11 record and were 8-6 in conference. They earned the six seed (out of 22 teams) in the Libertyville sectional. Senior forwards Claire Keefe and Caroline Frea were the main catalysts on offense, while freshman guard Lydia Crow had a breakout season, hitting many key three pointers. They won the regional at Stevenson by upsetting the Patriots. The season ended with a loss in the sectional semifinals to Fremd.
The team gathers in a huddle at the beginning of a home game against Lake Forest
Boys Bowling:
The boys bowled a total of 5,661 pins at the Lake Zurich regional, barely missing a bid to sectionals. However, Jason Giza (senior) bowled a total of 1,267 pins, giving him a second-place finish at the regional and qualifying him for sectionals. It was his second straight sectionals appearance. He did not qualify for state after that.
Girls Bowling:
The girls bowling team went 2-4 in head-to-head matches, and placed fifth at the Glenbrook North invite and second at the LHS Baker Classic. Both Ally Doherty (senior) and Katelyn Kubalanza (junior) qualified for sectionals. Doherty bowled a total of 1,049 pins and Kubalanza bowled a 1,066 to finish 16th overall. Neither of the girls advanced from sectionals to state, but the team has a bright future. All bowlers except for Doherty will be returning next year.
Cheerleading:
The competitive cheerleading team placed sixth at regionals, with a score of 77.67, narrowly missing a bid to sectionals (the top five teams qualify). They also placed fourth at the Stevenson Invite during the season.
Dance:
Coming off a third-place finish in the state competition last school year, the dance team ended up placing fifth in state. They placed sixth at the Grayslake North sectional. Another one of their accomplishments was winning the 2A Grand Jazz Dance Competition at Stevenson. They also placed 3rd at the Wheeling invitational.
Girls Gymnastics:
Despite injuries to two of the team’s top competitors (Kylie Skie and Claire Neuberger), the gymnastics team was still able to place fourth at the Glenbrook South regional. Individually, Ima Wasemann qualified for sectionals as well, but her 24th-place finish in the all-around competition did not qualify her for state.
Hockey:
The IceCats had a strong regular season, finishing with a 17-15-1 record. They finished in second place in conference and are the 11th seed in the state playoffs that begin Friday, Feb. 24. Justin Vieth (senior) leads the team with 36 points while captain Justin Agemura (senior) has 33. Vieth, Agemura and Mitch Cox (senior) were all selected to the league all-star game. The team won their first four playoff games before falling in the semi-finals.
Boys Swimming and Diving:
The swimming and diving team had a good season, especially in conference meets, where they finished 5-1. They did very well at the conference championship meet, where Billy Bennett (junior) placed first in the 100-meter breastroke, and the combination of Bennett, Eric Turner (senior), Nick Harrington (junior) and Sean Coughlin (junior) placed second in the 200-meter freestyle relay. Senior Jacob Reichert took second at sectionals and will be competing at state Feb. 24-25.
Boys Wrestling:
The wrestling team had a tough schedule this year, going up against 10 ranked teams. They finished with an 11-10 overall record, but finished 6-1 in conference and had big wins over No. 14-ranked Conant and No. 24-ranked Warren. They placed fourth at the regional. Individually, Alex Mitchell (senior), Drew Onufer (senior), Danny Pucino (freshman), Michael Gunther (sophmore), Jack Damenti (senior) and Charlie Schmidt (junior) all qualified for sectionals. Mitchell, Pucino, Gunther, and Damenti then qualified for state. No one qualified for a medal at state, but Pucino and Damenti were each one match away.
