High school girls basketball insider: R-B softball standout Bannon excels on basketball court

Richmond-Burton girls basketball coach Stephanie Oslovich cringes every time senior guard Peyton Bannon drops her head and drives to the basket.

Averaging an area-leading 20.7 points a game, Bannon, a Wisconsin softball commit, finds her way to the hoop quite often.

"You just hope for the best," Oslovich said. "She’s a Division I softball player, so, every time she drives to the hoop, I cringe, but she’s an athlete. She can land, and she can do all of those things. She just does her thing."

Bannon averaged a team-high 13 points a game as a junior, but has elevated her game to a higher level in her final season. On Jan. 4, Bannon set the Rockets' single-game scoring record with 40 points in an 81-60 loss to Winnebago.

Two weeks later, she nearly beat her own record with 38 points against Prairie Ridge. And, last week against Woodstock North, she surpassed 1,000 career points and set the program's single-season scoring record. Through 24 games, she now has 497 points and has attempted 227 free throws, showing she's not afraid of contact.

Bannon was a Northwest Herald All-Area first-team pick last spring in softball and hit .541, trailing only Marengo's Hannah Ritter. Bannon was one of three finalists for Northwest Herald Softball Player of the Year and earned Kishwaukee River Conference Softball Player of the Year.

"Even though softball has been my main sport, I’ve always been pretty competitive playing basketball since I started playing in the first grade," Bannon said. "I just play it during the high school season. But I’ve played it my whole life, so I wanted to continue it until I was done with high school."

Oslovich thinks Bannon could have a bright future in basketball beyond high school if not for her commitment to Wisconsin to play softball. Bannon committed to the Badgers more than two years ago, as a sophomore.

"I don’t know if she’s Division I (in basketball), because she’s not super tall, but she’s so tough getting to the rim and she doesn’t really care about her body," Oslovich said. "She’s not scared. I can’t even imagine if basketball was her No. 1, and she was playing AAU all those years. What it would be like? It’d probably be like her playing softball because she's just so athletic."

Rolling Thunder: Woodstock North entered Tuesday with seven straight victories, bringing its record to 16-6. The next win for the Thunder will tie the program record for wins in a season.

North won 17 games in both 2012 and 2013. The Thunder have not finished with a record above .500 since 2013.

North, which is led by seniors Abby Hartmann at 10.1 points a game and Kaitlyn Ford with 38 3s, has seven games remaining until the playoffs. The Thunder boys basketball team recorded a program-record 17 wins last season.

1,000 more: In addition to Bannon surpassing 1,000 career points, Woodstock senior forward Emma Brand reached the milestone in a 53-38 win over R-B on Thursday. Brand scored a game-high 21 points and surpassed 1,000 career points on a 3-pointer with 5:39 left remaining.

Marian Central's senior forward Janelle Allen surpassed 1,000 career points in a 35-21 loss to Crystal Lake South on Monday, scoring a game-best 14 points. Brand and Allen are the sixth and seventh local player to surpass 1,000 points this year, joining Hampshire's Kelby Bannerman, McHenry's Ava Interrante, Huntley's Kamsi Nwogu, Alden-Hebron's Rachel Pahl and Bannon.

Burlington Central junior guard Elana Wells reached 1,000 career points in December.

WHAT TO WATCH

Burlington Central at Dundee-Crown, 7 p.m. Wednesday: A win for the Chargers gives them a three-game lead over the Rockets in the FVC. It's hard to see Burlington coming back from that far back with only six conference games left after Wednesday.

McHenry at Huntley, 7 p.m. Wednesday: These two played a tightly-contested game on Dec. 10, a 51-45 win for the Warriors.

Marengo at Woodstock North, 7 p.m. Tuesday: Depending on the rest of this week, it's possible that the Thunder are playing for either a share or the outright KRC championship by next Tuesday. North has never won a conference title.