Callie Hardtke has always known Wade Hardtke as dad, sure.

But she’s also known him as coach.

Now a Glenbard South senior, Callie recalls her dad coaching her all the way back to her first park district team as a 4-year-old.

“He’s been with me every step of the way,” she said.

As Callie embarks on the stretch run of her high school career, and helps lead Glenbard South to another stellar season, dad is right with her on the sidelines.

Wade Hartke, Glenbard South’s long-time boys basketball coach who stepped away after the 2022-2023 season, is in his second season as varsity assistant to Raiders’ girls coach Eric Daca.

It’s been a fun family affair for Callie, whose older brothers Cade and Cole played for their dad’s 2018-2019 sectional championship team.

“It’s been a great experience; even when I was younger he was always my coach – it’s been an amazing opportunity," Callie said. “Growing up in a basketball family, it helps me understand the game. I have a feel of it.”

Hardtke, now in her fourth varsity season, is a key part of a Glenbard South team that is 22-4, closing in on an Upstate Eight Conference title and poised for another deep postseason run.

Hardtke is averaging 9.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 52% on two-point field goals, 36% from 3 and 79% at the free-throw line.

Beyond those numbers are the intangibles that Daca said Hardtke brings to his team.

“She has great basketball instincts, great court awareness and great court knowledge,” Daca said. “She is one of our captains and a vocal leader.”

“I think over the last four years I have developed a better understanding of the game,” Hardtke said. “My teammates have been a huge part of that as well. Coach Daca trusting me as a captain has helped build my confidence.”

With the graduation of Brooklynn Moore off last year’s team, Hardtke has helped pick up the slack as the Raiders’ leading rebounder.

“She goes after the ball,” Daca said. “A lot of times there is a tendency in girls to reach for the ball. Callie goes and jumps for the ball. She is tall, she is athletic, she tracks the ball in flight and she goes in and gets it. She can handle the ball, can get a defensive rebound and start a transition. That’s an asset.”

So is the defensive skills Hardtke brings. Long and athletic at 5-foot-10, Hardtke routinely draws the assignment of guarding the opponent’s best player.

“She is long and athletic and quick, and she also has an understanding of defensive principles and what we are trying to accomplish,” Daca said. “She is able to guard smaller, quick guards, guard taller players. A lot of times we put her on athletic wings who will drive and cut. She has the physical tools and instincts.”

She’s a good student of the game. And Hardtke plans on following her parents, both teachers, into education and probably coaching.

“Growing up my dad always taught me defense is the most important part of the game,” Hardtke said. “Defense can win you games.”

Gwen Smith picks up the slack for Lyons

Gwen Smith has been a talented, if at times under the radar sidekick to two Division-I prospects the last three years at Lyons.

For better or worse, it’s her team now.

The Lions have been hit hard by injuries, losing three starters. Avery Mezan broke her hand in Lyons’ third game at Christmas. Anna Bigenwald rolled her ankle.

The most devastating loss came Jan. 9 against York, when senior forward and Cornell commit Emma O’Brien tore her ACL.

“Like a domino effect,” Lyons coach Meghan Hutchens said.

It’s a lot of weight on Smith’s shoulders, but she’s handled it well. Smith is averaging 16.7 points and 6.9 rebounds, but just as key is taking the leadership reins for a young team with two freshmen and a sophomore in the rotation all year.

“She has meant a lot to us regardless of the injuries and she has done a phenomenal job adapting to what we need,” Hutchens said. “After Emma’s injury I knew that it hit hard for Gwen. She has handled it well. She is leading through her voice, she is asking really good questions, she is playing the inside-outside game, she is adapting. It will make her a stronger player for it.”

Losing O’Brien in the second half of a game Lyons eventually won, Smith said the group had to come together. There were learning curves. Lyons (18-8) lost four of five but has since won three straight, got Mezan back last week and is set for a big challenge Friday at Glenbard West.

“I think a big part of that was giving other players confidence. We had two players that normally come off the bench start, that’s a big adjustment,” Smith said. “Me taking on a bigger scoring role, I had to step up in that role.”

Smith, whose older brother Graham, now playing football at Yale, and younger brother, Grant, are both football and basketball stars, plans to attend Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, to play basketball and pursue a degree as a physician’s assistant.

Basketball-wise, she defends opponents’ best players, will fight for a rebound and has developed a solid mid-range game.

Her best asset might be her ability to run the floor and score in transition.

“That is a skill I always come back on, that I can always run faster than the person guarding me,” Smith said. “It was instilled in me by my AAU coach coming into freshman year. They told me ‘Gwen, you literally need to sprint’ because I was jogging down the court. That changed my game and my whole mindset. Now I probably get six points a game just by sprinting. It really can change a game getting easy points.”

Nazareth new No. 1

Nazareth (24-3), which has won 14 consecutive games and knocked off then-No. 1 Benet on Jan. 28, has moved up to No. 1 in the latest Associated Press Class 4A statewide rankings.

Nazareth received the same amount of voting points as No. 2 Loyola but received one more first-place vote. Waubonsie Valley is No. 3 and Benet (21-3), which also lost to Maine South on Monday, dropped to No. 4. Meanwhile Downers Grove North (24-2), which has won 10 straight, moved into the poll at No. 10.