Girls Basketball notes: After leaving Montini, Sophie Sullivan and Taris Thornton settle in at Willowbrook

It’s been 339 days since Sophie Sullivan and Taris Thornton’s last high school basketball game. But it probably feels like a lifetime.

Sullivan and Thornton last took the court on March 7, 2020 for the Class 3A third-place game with Montini, five days before the IHSA canceled the rest of the boys basketball postseason. Before everyone knew what the word coronavirus meant.

Then their coach, Jason Nichols, made the stunning announcement he was leaving Montini. Sullivan and Thornton, best friends, decided to transfer to their hometown public school Willowbrook, one of several girls to leave Montini.

On top of all that, the first season at their new school was delayed for nearly three months.

“It’s crazy. I would have never thought any of this would have happened,” said Thornton, a senior forward and Eastern Illinois recruit. “Obviously Willowbrook was my public school. I was going to go there. The only reason I went to Montini was because of Jason.”

Sullivan and Thornton will finally make their Willowbrook debut Friday, at York.

Sullivan, a junior guard, is not that familiar with her teammates from on the court, but they’re no strangers. She said she knew all but two from social media, or from when she was younger. She went to grade school with some at St. Piux X in Lombard, and recalls playing with Abigail Spada and Lindsey King with the Sharks feeder program.

Acclimation to a new school, and team, is far from ideal during a pandemic.

The girls had no contact days with Willowbrook over the summer, or during the fall. Willowbrook has been in remote learning all school year, limiting their interaction at the new school – although Sullivan noted she already knew a lot of people there. Basketball practice started later than most schools, just last Wednesday.

So far, though, so good.

“We’re all jelling so far,” Sullivan said. “When we scrimmage up and down it’s like we have played before. I see a lot of potential and it’s exciting. In some Zoom calls we’ve had we got to know each other, we all have got pretty close. It’s weird we’ve only had four practices. We make jokes, it’s going really well.”

Thornton has known quite a few of her new teammates since the third grade, when they played on the Sharks. She played middle school with Stephanie Dasbach, a Winona State commit, when the two were at Jefferson Middle School in Villa Park.

“I think all of us have a good connection so far,” Thornton said. “It’s definitely been an adjustment, but I feel we’re all on the same page.”

While the team hadn’t worked out together, Thornton continued to see a trainer in Dundee that she’s worked with since the fifth grade. She’s worked to improve her shot with an eye on this season, but also her college career.

Sullivan said she’s worked out every day to keep honing her game. She connected with a trainer through Thornton.

A top priority is regaining her shooting form that went south during her sophomore year at Montini, but Sullivan thinks she’s rediscovered it.

“Freshman year I had all the shots, but after that season I started lifting a lot, doing speed and conditioning, and my issue was I was trying so much to catch up on that that I would forget to shoot after I lifted,” Sullivan said. “My mechanics were off. I tweaked them. My hand placement is better. It’s more in the same space.”

They may be in a different space, but the girls feel in a good place.

With Sullivan and Thornton joining Dasbach and Gracie Tumilty at Willowbrook, the Warriors have the makings of a very good team in this abbreviated season.

“With coach [Nichols] leaving, with the whole COVID situation, it seemed like the best situation for myself and a lot of others [to transfer],” Sullivan said. “I’m glad I made the switch. I love where I’m at, love the opportunity.”

“Just to get a season, my senior year, it’s a blessing,” Thornton said. “I was really hoping for a full season but it’s better than nothing. Just to play with Sophie one last time means a lot.”

Simon nears Wheaton North steals record: Wheaton North senior guard Julia Simon is on the cusp of a nearly 40-year-old program record.

Simon, with 203 career steals, is one away from breaking the Falcons’ record set by Karen Helm from the 1981-1983 seasons.

“To think, every Chicago team has won a sports championship since then, that’s how long the record’s been,” Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton said. “Holy cow, I was born in 1980, it’s been around since I was three; I’m 40 now.”

Eaton thinks that the steal record is one that stands the test of time.

“With scoring, the game has changed so much, but I feel like a steal is a steal. Steals don’t really evolve,” Eaton said. “For that record to stand that long, it’s an unbelievable accomplishment. And Julia is going to break it in two and a half years which is impressive.”

While Simon is committed to play soccer collegiately at Louisville, Eaton believes she could have just as easily been a Division I basketball player if she had wanted to. He appreciates that she stuck with high school basketball instead of quitting to just focus on her soccer development. This weekend, she’s missing a club soccer tournament to play with her high school basketball team at Batavia.

“She’s a special kid,” Eaton said. “It’s a different time nowadays, a lot of kids decide to focus on one sport. She didn’t have to keep playing basketball, but she did. She ran cross country this year, too, she wanted to be a four-sport athlete. She’s just an unbelievable athlete, an amazing player. She impacts the game on both ends of the floor.”

Benet’s Reagan Rodenbostel succeeds in two sports: Benet senior Reagan Rodenbostel is a somewhat unusual multi-sport athlete in this age of specialization. A top golfer for the Redwings’ program, she also has always played basketball.

“Last year, meeting all the girls on varsity, they didn’t know that I played golf,” Rodenbostel said. “It’s two very different sports. One is more individual, one more team. People are often surprised to hear that I play both.”

She’s playing, and succeeding.

After concluding a stellar golf career last fall, Rodenbostel on Saturday helped lead Benet’s basketball team to a season-opening win over Naperville Central. She scored nine points, a career-best as a varsity player.

Rodenbostel is glad to play a more significant role this season on the basketball team, after Benet graduated a boatload of Division I talent.

“Last year my role was not so much of a role on the court because our team was so incredibly talented; I took on the role of cheering the team on and staying positive,” said Rodenbostel, a Downers Grove resident. “This year is different. I’ll be able to contribute on the court much more than last year. It looks different, but it’s an improvement for me in playing time.”

She’s always played both sports. Rodenbostel’s dad taught her golf, but until she got to high school golf was more of a hobby. With basketball, she always played park district. On the golf course at Benet Rodenbostel was medalist at regionals as a junior, and was the Redwings’ No. 1 player last fall for a team that took second in conference.

She doesn’t plan to play either sport in college, instead focusing on a biology major in pursuing a degree as a veterinarian – so Rodenbostel feels fortunate to be able to play both sports during this pandemic-crazy school year.

“Even though we didn’t get the full state tournament for golf or a full season for basketball, the fact that I got to play with my team again was all I cared about and was important to me,” Rodenbostel said.