Marengo’s Dayna Carr returns from injury in Kishwaukee River Conference win against Johnsburg

MARENGO – Marengo forward Dayna Carr made her return to the court Saturday after dislocating her kneecap in the Indians' final game of the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic in late December.

While everyone on the Indians is happy to have their senior back, sophomore forward Macy Noe was particularly thrilled.

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Marengo's Dayna Carr battles with Johnsburg's Skye Toussaint for a rebound during a Kishwaukee River Conference basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Marengo High School. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

“I’ve been waiting all season for her to be back,” said Noe, who had game-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds against Johnsburg in a 42-26 Kishwaukee River Conference win. “Me and Dayna just have something special.”

Carr (six points, two blocks) came off the bench in the first half for Marengo (14-11, 9-1) but was on the floor to start the second.

The 6-foot-2 Carr recorded four of her six points in the third quarter and helped get the Indians' offense back on track after both teams shot a combined 0 for 21 in the second quarter.

She scored back-to-back buckets in the third quarter – one on a post move and another on a 13-foot jump shot – that put Marengo up 21-16 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.

The Indians won the quarter 15-6 to pull away from the Skyhawks (16-10, 6-3), who trailed 14-13 at halftime.

Marengo had plans to limit Carr’s minutes in her first game back, but she was able to move easy and freely.

“At first we were going to play her a minute here and there, but she looked good going up and down,” Marengo coach Elisa Hanson said. “We know [the Skyhawks] have [freshman forward] Skye [Toussaint], so we thought let’s get a third foul on her and keep taking it at them.

“Dayna and Macy had some good high-low passing and were crashing the boards. We thought we could get some easier baskets and make it a focus to get the ball inside.”

Carr, who averaged 7.7 points and 6.6 rebounds as a junior, also missed time leading up to the season with an ankle sprain. She was itching to get back on the court for the two-time defending KRC champions.

“Honestly, I was just so excited to play. I know there was a lot of tension, especially coming off of that Plano loss [42-40 in overtime on Wednesday],” Carr said. “I was just so excited to be on the floor, it’s been a minute. It’s my senior year, and I’ve only played six, now seven games. I’m excited to be back and able to play with my teammates again.

“We have a lot of fun when we’re on the floor.”

Johnsburg freshman guard Summer Toussaint (two 3s) had 18 of her team’s 26 points, including all 13 in the first half. Marengo switched to a zone defense in the second half and had better success.

“Them switching to zone, we struggled with that,” Johnsburg coach Erin Stochl said. “Our shots have not been consistent as of lately. We sometimes have our game, sometimes not, so them making that adjustment made it hard for us to get going. That first half, you could see Summer was easily getting to the basket. By them switching, she wasn’t able to get to the basket as much.”

At the same time, Stochl felt her team was up to the challenge defensively in the first half against Marengo, which has lost just two games in KRC play since the start of the 2022-23 season (32-2).

Marengo missed all 12 of its shots in the second quarter.

“I thought our girls really locked in,” Stochl said. “We scouted and ran Marengo stuff for a couple of days, and they came ready. Marengo’s got a lot of different weapons. Any one of those girls can score double digits, so it’s hard to contain.”

Senior guard Emilie Polizzi was one of two Indians to score in double digits with 10 points and two 3s, along with four steals. Sophomore Maggie Hanson tossed in seven points and five assists at point guard.

Noe is confident the Indians can finish off their KRC schedule with four games remaining and get a third straight conference championship. Marengo and Plano both have one loss and split their KRC matchups.

“We came out super hot,” Noe said of her team’s second-half performance Saturday. “We were locked in.”