Marshall’s Jacquay Holmes said she and teammate Tiffany Sardin made a pact at the beginning of the season.
“We were talking one day and wanted to make sure that we would step up and help out our team,” the 5-foot-8-inch junior said.
She and Sardin, a senior who has committed to Virginia, wanted to strive for a double-double each game. That seemed within reach of Sardin, a 6-footer who was named the top forward in last summer’s Adidas camp. But Holmes?
Marshall coach Dorothy Gaters knew she was talented but was unhappy with Holmes’ work ethic her first two years at Marshall.
“She was missing practice,” Gaters said.
That has changed this season. Holmes is leading the team in scoring with 14.5 points a game and is averaging 6.2 rebounds. She scored almost half the team’s points (18) and had 13 rebounds in the Commandos’ recent 37-33 victory over East St. Louis. Against Lane Tech on Jan. 28, she provided 21 points and 10 rebounds.
And now No. 7 Marshall, after Wednesday’s victory over Regina (Holmes had 17 points), enters the Public League playoffs with a 24-1 record.
“I’d like to make it Downstate–we want to win it all,” Holmes said.
GCAC honors: Seton’s Jennifer Hoffman was voted the GCAC’s player of the year over players like Regina’s Jenna Markoff and Christina Quaye, St. Ignatius’ Margaret Gilmartin and Trinity’s Caprice Smith. The 6-3 Hoffman, who averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game and is a state track champion, is headed for Louisville on a volleyball scholarship. … The conference inducted Loyola’s Tanya Johnson, Maria’s Darlene Graf, Mother McAuley’s Nancy Pedersen and former McAuley volleyball All-American Therese Boyle-Niego into its Hall of Fame. Johnson, Pedersen and Graf are athletic directors, but the first two are more well known for the state titles they’ve won. Johnson guided the Ramblers’ basketball team to back-to-back Class AA championships in 1997 and 1998. Pedersen has eight Class AA volleyball titles, the latest in 2000.
Milestone: Hoffman Estates senior guard Mandy Mennella’s 31 points in a win over Morton last weekend gave her a girls school-record 1,449 career points.
