High school girls basketball: Previewing teams from around Kendall County

The high school girls basketball season tips off this week. Here are previews of teams from around the Kendall County Newspapers coverage area.

Newark

Coach: Barb Scott (sixth season)

Last season’s record: 24-10 overall, 6-1 Little Ten Conference, tied for first place.

Top returners: Kellie Snyder, jr., F; Kaitlyn Hatteberg, sr., F-G; Kailee Borton, sr., G; Kjersten Friestad, jr., F-C; Kailey Wohead, jr., F; Bre Dixon, so., F

Key newcomers: Emily Schofield, sr., G; Reese Heap, jr., F-C; Peyton Eike, jr., G; Lindsey Hatteberg, jr., G

Worth noting: The Lady Norsemen won a fourth consecutive Class 1A regional, a second-straight LTC Tournament, and were the league’s co-champs last season … Newark graduated their two top scorers in Meggie Scott [14.3 ppg] and J.J. Mitchell (14.1 ppg) – both Kendall County All-Area players … Snyder [6.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg], an All-LTC honoree last season, and Kaitlyn Hatteberg (7.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg) give Newark a solid returning base.

Oswego

Coach: John Carlson (third season).

Last season’s record: 21-11, 14-4 Southwest Prairie Conference, second place in SPC West.

Top returners: McKenna Engler, sr., F, 5-9; Mia Moore, so., G, 5-7; Olivia Solis, sr., F, 5-10.

Key newcomers: Brooke Tennent, jr., SG, 5-9; Gracen Turner, sr., PG/SG, 5-4; Kaila Schlinger, jr., G/P, 5-10.

Worth noting: Oswego has won back-to-back regional championships in Carlson’s first two years as head coach, but is rebuilding ... Seven seniors graduated, a group led by 2018-2019 Kendall County Newspapers Player of the Year Jenelle Rogers ... Engler, recently committed to Morton College, suffered a season-ending injury to her right knee last January after tearing the ACL in her left knee in a regional game in 2018 but is healthy now ... Engler averaged 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals as a junior ... She’ll take on added responsibility this season, as will Moore, who averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals as a freshman ... Solis is committed to do high jump at Minnesota State.

“We always take the next girl up approach to the program,” Carlson said. “Having two returning starters that are great leaders does help the process.”

Oswego East

Coach: Abe Carretto (10th season).

Last year’s record: 11-20, 7-9 Southwest Prairie Conference

Top returners: Katie Jorgensen, jr., PG, 5-8; Lauren Shea, sr., F, 5-11; Kailey Tyburski, sr., F, 5-10; Riley Doggett, so., G, 5-8; Megan Leonard, sr., G, 5-7.

Key newcomers: Maddie Stockley, jr., G; Angela Ruiz, jr., C, 6-0.

Worth noting: The Wolves will look a lot different without Christine Corpuz, last year’s Kendall County Newspapers Player of the Year who is now at Johns Hopkins ... Corpuz, a four-year varsity starter, graduated as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,304 points and 168 3-pointers ... Shea averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds, the Wolves’ top returning player in each statistical category ... Carretto is glad to have back Jorgensen, who tore her ACL in the first game against Oswego last year and was averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds at the time ... Tyburski averaged 3.5 points and 3 rebounds, Leonard 2 points and 2 rebounds and Doggett 4 points and 3 rebounds in significant varsity minutes as a freshman ... Stockley, a good shooter, led the Oswego East sophomore team in scoring last season ... Ruiz was the sophomore team’s center who can rebound well and is solid around the basket ... “I don’t really know what to expect for this year considering we haven’t been able to do anything since October,” Carretto said. “My outlook is I hope to compete with everyone in our conference during the regular season while still in this pandemic. I would love to be able to play in our conference championship game at the end of the season for our SPC tournament.”

Plano

Coach: Dave Lay (third season).

Last season’s record: 9-24, 3-11 Interstate Eight Conference, seventh place.

Top returners: Rachel Martinez, sr., F, 5-6; Kayah Myles, sr., G, 5-5; Alina Martinez, sr., G, 5-6; Ryssa Woodhouse, so., G, 5-6; Faith Malloy, jr., F, 5-9.

Key newcomers: MiKayla Walls, so., F, 5-9; Grace Stevenson, sr., G.

Worth noting: The Lady Reapers graduated their three top scorers from last season – Maddie Jude, Kyla Waller and Lily Fernandez – that accounted for 75% of their points ... So they’ll need to figure out who can put the ball in the basket ... Myles, who averaged 3.3 points, is the top returning scorer ... Defensively, Plano should be much the same, leaning on its speed and athleticism since the Lady Reapers don’t have much height ... Walls is a transfer from Yorkville ... Stevenson, a standout softball player, is back after not playing basketball as a junior.

“Compete – that is our word this year,” Lay said. “We want to compete. We are in a very tough conference, so we’re hoping to be able to compete every night.”

Sandwich

Coach: Chris Johnson (fifth season).

Last season’s record: 21-12, 8-6 Interstate Eight Conference, fourth place.

Top returners: Josie Ness, sr., F, 5-11; Claire Roberts, sr., G, 5-3; Sophia Datoli, sr., F, 5-6; Grace Donahue, sr., SG, 5-5; Claire Allen, so., F, 5-11.

Key newcomers: Maggie Knepper, jr., G, 5-2; Molly Roberts, jr., G, 5-7.

Worth noting: The Indians have posted three consecutive winning seasons, a feat that had not been done by the program since 1987-1990 ... Sandwich also has back-to-back 20-plus win seasons for the first time in program history ... Ness, who averaged 9.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks as a junior, enters her fourth varsity season ... She will play the front of Sandwich’s press defense and play all spots on offense, inside and out ... Roberts averaged 8.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals and is Sandwich’s main ball handler ... Datoli is Sandwich’s top defender and will guard opponents’ best player ... Donahue will look to be a shooter from the outside and Allen got in 26 games as a freshman.

“Our goal is to finish in the top half of conference again and to try and move up a spot or two in the standings,” Johnson said. “In this shortened season, we are just happy we get to play and will enjoy the moment while we have it.”

Yorkville

Coach: Kim Wensits (fifth season).

Last year’s record: 10-20, 6-10 Southwest Prairie West, fourth place.

Top returners: Kenzie Senffner, sr., G, 5-4; Kenzie Phillips, jr., F, 5-10; Alex Stewart, so., G, 5-8; Madi Beetham, sr., G, 5-7; Anna Titus, sr., G, 5-6; Ellie Maaske, sr., G, 5-7; Marissa Samuel, sr., G, 5-4.

Key newcomers: Courtney Morse, so., F, 5-6; Kaelie Moreno, so., 5-5, G; Karson Davey, so., G, 5-3; Ava Hendershott, so., G, 5-7; Rylie Sewell, jr., G, 5-7.

Worth noting: The Foxes will have a totally new look with a lot of minutes up for grabs, as five seniors graduated who played led by All-Area guard Lily Guerra ... Senffner is a four-year varsity player that Wensits notes has been coming to Yorkville summer camps since she was 5 or 6 – she averaged 5.8 points and 2.8 assists and shot 36% from the 3-point line last year and will play collegiately at Edgewood College ... Phillips averaged 3.8 points and Stewart 3.7 points in their first varsity seasons ... “This season we are focusing on getting back to the basics,” Wensits said. “Focusing on our fundamentals, being competitive in every game we play while still having fun and enjoying the game we all love. There are a lot of question marks on the season with some many young players on our team (five sophomores).”