Heading into Tuesday’s road game at Kankakee, Nazareth senior Stella Sakalas had been around for 124 of head coach Eddie Stritzel’s career wins in her four-year varsity career.

After Sakalas and the Roadrunners (27-3) added to that total with a 69-19 win over the host Kays (20-8), she and her teammates mobbed their head coach while carrying a banner celebrating his 500th career win.

“He doesn’t really like being the center of attention, but he totally deserved it,” Sakalas said. “He’s such a great coach, so it’s so exciting. I got to celebrate the 400th win with him as a freshman, so winning over 100 games in my career and getting to be with Coach Ed on this great journey of his has been so cool.”

Stritzel is nearing the end of his 10th season with Nazareth, now with a record of 264-52 in that time. He’s also led the Roadrunners to seven regional titles, five state appearances and a state title in 2023.

Prior to that, he was the head coach at Trinity for nine years, where he compiled a record of 236-51 and picked up seven regional and two sectional titles.

Stritzel is no stranger to having excellent teams, but he said reaching the 500-win milestone with this group was special.

“I knew it was coming, but I tried to keep it under wraps a bit,” he said. “I really try to make it about the kids only, but that being said, now that it’s out, it’s been quite a career for me. To do it that fast in 18 years has been pretty humbling.

“I’ve had a lot of great teams over the years, and this is one of my all-time great teams here. I’m happy I’ve been able to help out a lot of kids and a lot of families over the years.”

The Roadrunners got Tuesday’s win, their 17th in a row, behind a typically stellar defensive outing.

They were allowing a shade over 34 points per game entering play Tuesday before holding Kankakee – notably without leading scorer Ava Johnson and fellow starter London Stroud – to a season-low in points.

It was Nazareth’s 11th time holding an opponent under 25 points, four in the last five games.

“Our defense is our calling card, and we’ve been working on that since the start of the season,” Sakalas said. “Holding teams to their season-lows is what we try to do.”

Active defense allowed the Roadrunners to get out in transition frequently, where players often found the open shooter. This resulted in 11 3-pointers, nine coming in the first half.

Senior Lyla Shelton drilled four 3s in the first half, finishing with 20 points in the game.

“We like games like this where they’ll prepare us for other games,” she said. “Just keeping this momentum, and we’re gaining confidence each game, so I’m excited to see where this goes.”

Sophia Towne finished with 18 points, ahead of Sakalas with 13. Sam Austin and Annalise Crudele added four points apiece.

The Roadrunners will travel to Lincoln-Way West on Thursday before heading to the 4A Hancock Regional on Feb. 17, where they will look to start their journey back to state after falling in the sectional semis to eventual state champion Kenwood last season, snapping a steak of five straight state trips.

It’ll take seven wins in the playoffs to hoist another state trophy and get Stritzel a head start at 600.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time of the year,” he said. “Just keep enjoying it, enjoying what we’re doing and enjoying the moment. I think they do a really good job at that. It’s a fun group to coach.”

Kankakee has its regular-season and Southland Athletic Conference finale against Crete-Monee on Thursday and will then head into the 3A Metamora Regional against a familiar Morris team on Feb. 17.

Head coach Kurt Weigt said scheduling what was perhaps the toughest test possible Tuesday will be helpful going into the postseason.

“They’re arguably the best team in Illinois,” he said. “We put them on the schedule because we try to simulate certain things, but unless you’re in a contest with them, you can’t understand quite what a quality, No. 1 team in the state looks like. ...

“I’m just looking for us to compete, try to get better and do that against quality opponents.”