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Northwest Herald Athlete of the Week
Megan Madsen, Johnsburg, jr., G
Madsen had a big scoring week for the Skyhawks in a pair of conference wins, tallying a career-best 28 points in a 48-44 Kishwaukee River Conference victory over Woodstock last Friday. The 5-foot-9 junior guard made four 3-pointers in the win.
She nearly matched her scoring output in a 55-43 KRC win over Woodstock North on Monday, scoring a game-high 27 points, including five 3s, to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Skyhawks were playing without their top two scorers, senior Kayla Stefka (ACL), who is out for the season, and Megan's twin sister, Morgan Madsen, who suffered a knee injury against the Blue Streaks.
Noteworthy
Doubling up: McHenry senior Liz Alsot completed a rare feat in the Warriors' 85-46 win against Crystal Lake Central on Wednesday. With 14 rebounds, the 6-footer surpassed 1,000 rebounds. Earlier in the season, Alsot also became a 1,000-point scorer.
Alsot, who now has 1,179 career points and and 1,007 rebounds, played just seven games as a freshman.
"I don't even think she was that loud today, but she still ends up with 19 and 14," Warriors coach Rob Niemic said. "It's just another notch on her senior year victory tour. ... It's just Liz being Liz. That's who she's been her entire career, and I'm just super proud of being able to coach her for four years.
"I better savor it, because there's not much more. We're going to enjoy the heck out of this one."
Almost there: Marian Central senior Vannessa Garrelts, who already holds the school's all-time scoring record, is closing in on the Hurricanes' single-season scoring record held by Katie Sharp with 504 points.
Garrelts has 455 points with six games remaining (plus the postseason). The 5-foot-5 point guard and Miami (Ohio) commit is averaging 18.2 points a game in her senior season and has 1,472 career points despite playing only a handful of games as a freshman. She had 493 points as a junior.
Freshman confidence: Marengo was unable to hang with Burlington Central in a critical KRC game last Friday, a 55-26 loss, but coach Nick Rode noted the great play of freshman Jennifer Heinberg.
The Indians struggled from the field, but the 5-foot-6 guard let it fly, tossing in seven points on two 3s.
"She's a kid that brings a shooting dimension to our team," Rode said. "She's had games with four, five 3s. She spends a lot of time working on her outside shot. She's got a hoop in her barn. They've got a little burning stove out there, and I know she's out there even on the coldest days getting shots up. It's paying off for sure."
Rode pointed out that the Indians are still having one of their better seasons in recent years. Marengo (16-6, 7-2 KRC) responded with wins against Harvard, Woodstock and Richmond-Burton.
"Every game matters for conference at this point," he said.
Tough act: McHenry had a scary moment in its win over Crystal Lake Central when senior and Bradley commit Aannah Interrante suffered a shoulder injury with six minutes left in the second quarter and left the game with a trainer.
She came back in less than three minutes and made her fourth 3 of the game on her way to a game-high 28 points and six 3s.
Interrante is now averaging 19.1 points a game and has 1,607 career points.
"She's just super tough," Niemic said. "How many girls you know have a shoulder pop out, pop back in, and the very next play she hits a 3? She's just competitive as (heck), especially on the offensive end."
New year, new team: Huntley, which entered the season with four straight FVC titles, struggled to a 1-13 start but have gone 5-4 since the start of the new year, including conference wins over Prairie Ridge, Crystal Lake South and Cary-Grove.
The Red Raiders (6-17) are very young with eight underclassmen. Nine players on their roster entered the season without any prior varsity experience. Freshmen Raquel Radermacher and Kamsi Nwogu have provided big scoring during Huntley's turnaround.
What to watch
Dundee-Crown at McHenry
1:30 p.m. Saturday
The Warriors can clinch the outright FVC championship with a win. McHenry has never won an FVC title in girls or boys basketball since the conference started in 1978.
Marengo at Johnsburg
7 p.m. Wednesday
The Indians and Skyhawks have split their first two meetings. Marengo handed Johnsburg a 47-43 KRC loss in November. The Skyhawks won, 52-32, at the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic in December.