1A state: 12 years after softball team’s state run, familiar faces surround Redbird-bound Huskers

The only IHSA state finals banner on the wall in the Serena High School gymnasium pays tribute to the Huskers’ Class 1A softball team of 2010 that finished fourth in a Cinderella season.

Serena athletic director Dean DeRango will have to find some room for another after Monday’s 46-34 victory over Ridgeview in the Class 1A Serena Girls Basketball Supersectional.

Associated Press No. 6-ranked Serena (33-2) will face No. 4 Galena (31-3) about 11:45 a.m. Thursday at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena in Normal with the chance to advance to the 1A championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday against either No. 1 Brimfield (30-4) or unranked upstart Neoga (28-7).

“The softball team of 2010 was such a special group for me as the AD back then, and now we have this great girls basketball team that has eclipsed all of our expectations,” DeRango said Monday. “Back then, the run to the finals was amazing. But to win inside our own gym tonight in front of this big home crowd is something I’ll never forget, and I know the girls aren’t nearly done yet heading down to Redbird.”

All-state senior Katie Baker will lead the trip to Normal for Serena after scoring 18 points against Ridgeview. She’s averaging 17.5 points a game this season, as the Huskers have reeled off 29 straight victories after a 4-2 start. Baker stands with 1,655 career points, sixth most in Little Ten Conference girls basketball history.

Baker was only 6 years old when her mother and current Serena softball coach Kelly Baker took the Huskers to the 1A Final Four in 2010.

“I remember how much fun that team had and how much I looked up to every single one of those players,” Katie Baker said. “[Former Serena softball standout] Katie Huss was my older sister, I believed, and I never left her side back then as a little girl. So to put myself in her category now, getting to state along with what she and all the others accomplished in order to raise a first state banner for our school ...

“Now its’ our time to hoist up another and honor them.”

Kelly Baker couldn’t concur more with her talented daughter.

“We have so many pictures from 2010 and the great run we had, but [Serena baseball coach and Kelly’s husband] Chad and I couldn’t find any pictures of Katie back then because she was off with her friends somewhere,” Kelly Baker said. “Now as a parent, it was much more nerve-racking to watch us get the big win over Ridgeview and get to state again. I guess we’ll have a ton of photos from tonight with her in a big role.

“While 2010 was amazing, nothing can compare to seeing your child and her team accomplish what they have this season. We’re going to come home again with a big trophy, and the cool thing is now we’ll have a connection to both state banners that will fly in this gym forever no matter what.

“Just an amazing night for Serena High School.”

Also amazing has been the play of sophomore standout forward Paisley Twait, who has been Katie Baker’s ride-or-die along with junior Reese Cole, sophomore Makayla McNally and freshman Jenna Setchell, who rarely have left the court this season with coach Jim Jobst opting to keep his formidable five in the lineup as much as possible.

Twait was a key factor in the win over Ridgeview, and she’ll certainly need to be against Galena if the Huskers want to advance to the state title game.

“I don’t know whether to cry happily or smile ear to ear, because I’m just taking things in at this point because I know we’re going to state,” Paisley Twait said. “It’s pretty cool knowing my dad is the [head varsity] boys basketball coach at Serena and my grandfather is my coach, as well.

“Sometimes it’s pretty stressful, but they both always have my back, and it’s awesome to have them in my corner now knowing what’s ahead of us at state.”

Her father, Dain, and her grandfather Craig – who serves as the girls assistant coach alongside Jobst and was the Serena girls bench boss for many years – believe this team will rival the 2010 softball squad and may even better that team in the coming days.

“This is just unbelievable for all of us who have ever competed at Serena, and to see my daughter get to state with her basketball team just makes my heart fill up with pride,” Dain Twait said. “I was fortunate enough to play on the 1998 Serena team that went to the sectional final against Leo in the best ride I was ever a part of in my basketball career. But to see my daughter accomplish this is almost unreal at this point, and I’m so proud of these girls.”

Craig Twait – a mainstay of Serena girls basketball over the years – couldn’t be happier to see the Huskers make it to state after all the twists and turns throughout the past decades that Serena girls hoops have experienced.

“When I was head coach at Serena, we couldn’t quite get to the amazing spot where we are now,” he said. “I guess it was our turn now after all the tough regionals and sectionals we’ve played in. We started this run way back in June in the summer, and we told the girls we knew where we could get to if they just believed in what coach Jobst was saying. They did that, and it’s been a fun ride, and it’s not over yet.

“We’re gonna hang another banner next to the 2010 softball team no matter what.”