Surely, Lisa Bluder doesn’t intend to change the game of basketball in the state of Iowa again. Or does she?
It was only nine years ago that the state decided to join the rest of the nation by ending its 95-year love affair with six-player girls basketball. For those who may not remember, three players were stationed on one half of the court for defense, and three on the other half for offense.
No more than two dribbles. No crossing half court. No swatting at the ball on defense outside the lane. Not much resemblance to the game played in 48 other states. (Oklahoma also had hung on to the six-player game.)
Iowa women’s coach Bluder is not calling for a return to the six-player game. She is importing a slightly different variation: three-player Chicago-area basketball. And two of those players happen to be the only seniors on the Tribune’s 2002 All-State girls basketball first team.
Lake Zurich’s Johanna Solverson and Barrington’s Lindsay Richards, along with special-mention selection Morgan Kasperek of Hinsdale Central, have been asked to cross the Mississippi River to play for Bluder in Iowa City.
Two juniors and one sophomore join Solverson and Richards on the first team. Fenwick’s Erin Lawless and Peoria Woodruff’s Britney Jordan are considered the top juniors in Illinois. Naperville Central’s Candace Parker is the first sophomore to make this team since Stevenson’s Tamika Catchings in 1995.
“I’ve always recruited that area, even when I was at St. Ambrose,” said Bluder, who when she was at Drake convinced Loyola All-Stater Kristin Santa to come to the Hawkeye state. “To compete at this level (Division I), there’s not enough talent in Iowa.”
It all comes down to a numbers game for Bluder, who took over as the Hawkeyes’ coach in 2000 and already has one former Illinois (and Illini) player on her roster in Glenbard West’s Kristi Faulkner. According to census figures from 2000, the population for the entire state of Iowa is 2,926,324. That’s less than half the number of people in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Numbers come into play for Bluder’s two All-Staters too.
The 6-foot-1 1/2-inch Solverson, unlike other All-Staters, didn’t make the varsity until her sophomore year.
“We just didn’t have any room for her,” said Lake Zurich coach Carl Krause, whose team was loaded with seniors, including current Notre Dame standout Alicia Ratay and Lehigh’s Anne Tierney.
There’s plenty of space now for the daughter of former pro football player Pete Solverson and sister of Illinois-Chicago’s Thor. Despite not playing a minute of varsity basketball as a freshman, Solverson finished with 1,513 career points and this season led the Bears to a 34-0 record, a streak halted in the state semifinals by Class AA champion Hinsdale Central. She averaged 17.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.4 steals a game as a senior and is the only Illinois player to be selected for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and McDonald’s postseason all-star games.
“Here’s an athlete who has unlimited potential and the ability to play so many positions,” Bluder said.
Richards improved her scoring average every season and set a Barrington record with 2,182 points to surpass former Illini standout Ashley Berggren. As a senior, she scored 671 points, also a school record, for a 21-point average.
Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro saw just how special the Mid-Suburban West’s Player of the Year could be two years ago.
“Inside, outside and off-balance,” she said, was how Richards dropped 35 points on Glendale (Mo.) at the Ameritech Shootout. But Barreiro remembers best a game against Conant.
Richards had beaten her defender twice, and the next time downcourt she repeated the spin move, and, Barreiro said, “the girl just threw her hands up in the air, kind of saying, `Geez, what can I do to defend this kid?'”
Bret McCormick of the All-Star Girls Report rates Richards, selected to play with Solverson in the McDonald’s game, among the top 15 seniors in the nation.
As for the juniors, Lawless kept the defending Class AA titlist Friars among the state’s top-five teams almost the entire season and No. 1 for 10 weeks.
“Maybe I’m a little biased, but of all the players in Illinois I thought Erin Lawless was the player of the year,” Fenwick coach Dave Power said. “She certainly was our player of the year.”
She sustained an ankle injury in mid-January and still came up with 25 points and 10 rebounds in a 52-49 victory over 6-6 Alison Bales and Beavercreek, Ohio, to end that team’s 41-game winning streak. That game and her career-high 31 points against Naperville Central in the Dundee-Crown Christmas tournament final are what stick in Power’s mind.
Peoria Woodruff’s Jordan transferred from Peoria Central and rewrote the record book for the Warriors with 868 points, tied for 20th on the state’s all-time list of season bests. That was the highest point total since Allison Curtin scored 927 in the 1997-98 season.
Last season Woodruff finished 8-16. With Jordan, it wound up 25-3 and won a regional for the first time since 1986. The 5-8 Jordan averaged 31 points a game, and she handled the ball 85 percent of the time, coach Steve Harper said.
“She had a lot of pressure on her, leaving one school in the city for another,” Harper said.
Naperville Central’s Parker had pressure of a different nature after coming up with the first dunk in an Illinois girls game. She stole the ball at halfcourt and drove in for that historic basket in the first quarter of a Dundee-Crown tournament game against Rockton Hononegah on Dec. 27. The expectations have been enormous since.
“What can you say about Parker?” asked McCormick, who rates her as the second-best sophomore nationally behind Sade Gatewood of Hawthorne, Calif., who committed to Tennessee as a freshman. “The basketball ability, the size. She’s destined to be a great player.”
Parker is destined to become one of the leading scorers in state history at her current rate. She already has 1,349 points and broke the Naperville Central career scoring record set 20 years ago. Despite being double- and triple-teamed, Parker averaged 22 points and 15 rebounds per game. Against Glenbard North on Jan. 3, in a game in which she surpassed the 1,000-point mark, Parker grabbed 34 rebounds.
“Candace is the best high school player I have ever seen, without exception,” said her coach, Andy Nussbaum. She might have even done well in the six-girl game.
Johanna Solverson
Lake Zurich
Senior 6-1 1/2 Forward
The numbers: 17.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 steals a game and 58 percent from the field for the 34-2 Bears. Didn’t join the varsity until her sophomore season and still wound up with 1,513 career points.
The skinny: Only player from the state who will play in both the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and McDonald’s All-American games in April. Led Bears to 34-0 start and fourth-place finish in Class AA state tournament. Headed to Iowa this fall.
Lindsay Richards, Barrington
Senior 5-9 Guard
The numbers: 21 points, 3.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds a game for 22-10 Fillies, who suffered a tough loss to Lake Zurich in sectional semifinals. Her 2,182 career points broke school record set by former Illinois star Ashley Berggren.
The skinny: “One of the best athletes I’ve ever seen,” said coach Babbi Barreiro, who witnessed all of Richards’ talents in physical education classes at Barrington. “She could’ve been a gymnast, played softball.” Headed to Iowa this fall.
Britney Jordan, Peoria Woodruff
Junior 5-8 Guard
The numbers: 31 points, 10 rebounds, 4.2 assists, four steals a game for the the 25-3 Warriors. She led Woodruff in every major statistical category and set school record for points (868), field goals (335) and scoring average.
The skinny: Transfer from Peoria Central, which she led to Elite Eight as a freshman, shifted girls basketball balance of power in River City. Woodruff was 8-16 the season before she arrived.
Erin Lawless, Fenwick
Junior 6-2 Center
The numbers: 21.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 3.1 assists a game and a 63 percent field-goal percentage for the 30-4 Friars. Since freshman year, Dave Power’s team is 101-9 and won 2001 Class AA title.
The skinny: Career-high 31 points in Dundee-Crown Christmas overtime final victory against Naperville Central broke this streak: Her father, Dan, said he’d quit smoking if she ever scored 30 or more.
Candace Parker, Naperville Central
Sophomore 6-3 Forward
The numbers: 22 points, 15 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, 3.4 steals a game for the 28-3 Redhawks. Already has school career scoring record with 1,349 points and had game highs of 38 points and 34 rebounds.
The skinny: Running out of adjectives to describe state’s best soph who authored one of the most unforgettable moments in Illinois high school history with first-ever dunk in girls’ game on Dec. 27. Followed it up with a second dunk later in the season.
All-State second team
Player School Ht. Yr. Pos.
Maggie Acuna Hinsdale Central 5-6 Sr G
Missy Mitidiero Marian Catholic 5-5 Jr G
Kari Embree Wheeling 6-4 Sr C
Shana Franklin New Trier 6-0 Sr F
Tiffany Sardin Marshall 6-1 Sr F
Special mention
Guards
– LaToya Bond, sr., Urbana
– Jen Brown, jr., Rolling Meadows
– Kassie Drew, so., Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin
– Jessica Eenigenburg, sr., Illiana Christian
– Margaret Gilmartin, sr., St. Ignatius
– Blair Hardiek, jr., Effingham
– Katie Hasheider, jr., Okawville
– Kristin Heidloff, so., Fenwick
– Krystal Hugelier, jr., York
– Janelle Hughes, sr., Hillcrest
– Candis Jackson, sr., Young
– Stephanie Lisch, jr., Belleville Althoff
– Megan McCracken, sr., Rock Isl. Alleman
– Mandy Mennella, sr., Hoffman Estates
– Stephanie Raymond, jr., Rockford Luth.
– Shuntae Roberison, jr., Hope
– Sara Stevenson, sr., Olney East Richland
– Rachel Theodore, sr., Prospect
– Lauren Weber, jr., St. Viator.
Forwards
– Mary Basic, jr., Marian Catholic
– Liz Bondi, sr., Maine South
– Lynn Klostermann, sr., Breese Central
– Lauren Lacey, so., Marian Catholic
– Danielle Lonie, sr., Hillcrest
– Kristin Moore, sr., Hope
– Erin Murtha, jr., Stevenson
– Amy Peters, jr., Warren
– Ashlee Pistorius, so., Normal U-High
– Christina Quaye, jr., Regina Dominican
– Amber Shelton, so., Carrollton
– Jordan Wilson, sr., Benet
– Lindsay Wisdom, so., Neuqua Valley
Centers
– Holly Hallstrom, sr., Moline
– Morgan Kasperek, sr., Hinsdale Central
– Chloe Kerr, jr., Bolingbrook
– Lauren Levine, sr., Mother McAuley
– EeTisha Riddle, jr., O’Fallon
– Caprice Smith, so., Trinity
– Dawn VanderMeer, sr., Andrew
– Natasha Williams, so., Niles North.
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