The Chicago Public League had recognized the problem. Not a lot of fans from the city showed up to support the Public League girls basketball champ–usually Marshall–when it went downstate for the Class AA finals.
That changed when Public League officials campaigned to send as many students as possible from the city’s high schools to the finals, according to the league’s girls basketball coordinator, Richard Rapp.
The campaign worked. At 7:45 a.m. Saturday, 16 buses made the trip to Redbird Arena for Washington’s semifinal game against favored Galesburg. Rapp said about 645 fans took advantage of the Public League’s offer of free transportation and admission to cheer on the Minutewomen.
“It’s incredible to see people down here,” Rapp said. “It helped Willie’s team a lot.”
Washington coach Willie Byrd, hearing the fans chant “CPS, CPS” (Chicago Public Schools) as time wound down on Washington’s 54-45 victory over Galesburg, agreed.
“That crowd helped us,” he said.
Washington outscored Galesburg 33-14 in the second half and its crowd–maybe in a more stunning development than the final score–was able to shout down the legion of more than a thousand Galesburg admirers.
Fontana for three: That phrase wasn’t heard much during the season, but Fremd’s Maggie Fontana made sure it was part of the litany Saturday. The 5-foot-11-inch junior got to step outside during the three-point contest final and won the Class AA title. Fontana hit 12 of 15 attempts from beyond the arc to top Marian Catholic’s Jana Panici, Lincoln’s Angie Bossingham and Centralia’s Loretta Graham. Fontana lost the “Queen of the Hill” contest Saturday night to the Class A champion, Jessica Geiselman of Pittsfield 5-4.
The welcome recruit: Washington’s Dejeanette Flournoy had a captive audience at Redbird Arena. Illinois State women’s coach Jenny Yopp,who signed Flournoy to a letter-of-intent in November, and Yopp’s assistants were courtside to check on their recruit.
“We need her athleticism,” said Yopp, whose team went 6-20 in her first year at ISU. “She is surrounded by two great scorers [in Leslie Hill and Angelina Williams]. Dejeanette can score, but she does a lot of little things that help the team win.”
Coaches’ picks: Seven Chicago-area players were named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association 2000 All-State team. They are Fremd’s Fontana, Sandburg’s Sarah Kustok, Marshall’s Cappie Pondexter, Fenwick’s Katie O’Grady, Wheaton Warrenville South’s Charliss Ridley, West Aurora’s Jackie Shook and Washington’s Angelina Williams. Galesburg’s Pacheco, Machesney Park Harlem senior Aminata Yanni and Peoria Central freshman Britney Jordan were the other players named.
Area players on the second team are Maria’s Mary Cain, Washington’s Leslie Hill, Maine West’s Julie Just, Hersey’s Nicollete McCartny, Evanston’s Danielle McKinley, Barrington sophomore Lindsey Richards, Fenwick’s Claudette Towers and Maine South’s Colleen Van Hoesen.
“The thing I’ve learned is that you just can’t make everybody happy,” said IHSA Associate Executive Director Marty Hickman, commenting on reaction to the method IHSA used this season to place teams in sectionals (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). “I’m sure there will be some fine-tuning.”
