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Brooke Carlson understands the weight of the reputation she brings on the basketball court.
The Batavia junior guard is hardly an unknown commodity throughout the DuKane Conference. She’s started on varsity since freshman year and hasn’t looked back.
“Ever since she was little, even when she played feeder ... as she got older, seventh and eighth grade, she was playing more on travel teams,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. “She was always playing with kids one year, two, three, maybe even four years older than her. Even when you’re pretty little in grade school, that two- or three-year difference in maturity level starts to rub off on you.
“I think she’s had a lot of positive kids around her where some of that maturity has been able to rub off. [The spotlight] has never really fazed her. She’s just always been able to handle everything appropriately and has matured beyond what you would expect.”
Through three varsity seasons, Carlson already has reached 1,000 career points. Watching the Batavia guard dazzle on the court for a few minutes, though, it becomes abundantly clear. Carlson is far beyond simply a scorer.
The DuKane Conference Player of the Year and Illinois High School Basketball Coaches first-team selection, Carlson led Batavia to a sectional final.
Carlson, who averaged 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 steals and shot 34% from 3-point range, is the Kane County Chronicle Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“You kind of want to show out,” Carlson said. “But, also, I go in there and play. It’s kind of hard to really think about that as much. I feel like if I think too much about that, it’s going to get to my head, so I just go out there and play and just show what I can show.”
“She took a big step in her own growth over the last year, year and a half,” Jensen said. “Played much more under control and much more efficient.”
Carlson scored a career-high 42 points in a regular-season win over St. Charles North. In the sectional semifinal against the North Stars, Carlson stole the ball and went the length of the court for the game-winning score with 12 seconds left.
“The [career-high] game against St. Charles North, I mean, she scores 42 points and only shot the ball 18 times,” Jensen said. “That’s pretty darn efficient and that’s where her game has changed and adjusted. She has been able to find the spots when we needed them most, but still make the right play. Not always make the shot, but make the right play.”
Carlson can be considered the Bulldogs’ leader, but the cohesiveness of the entire team played out on the court in a significant way. Batavia achieved 21 wins, only the fifth 20-plus win total in school history. Their 10 wins in the DuKane Conference was the first time that’s happened since the league’s inception in 2018.
The Bulldogs also won back-to-back regional championships for the first time in program history.
“We always had energy and we always kept each other strong,” Carlson said. “Even in the bad moments, we kept each other up and that was a huge thing. If I were to get upset, I’d have somebody have my back helping me, or if someone was to get upset, I’d have their back.
“We were working on [our vision] since the summer. We know what we want to accomplish and we know what we need to do to accomplish it. The beginning of the year, we were doing really well with it and then the thing that really set the team together was [our winter Florida] trip.”