Sure, it’s just one game, but Monday night’s 49-29 victory over Montini was exactly what Minooka needed.

At 12-1 after the win at the Montini Christmas Classic, one might think the Indians are just fine. So how would the lopsided victory be exactly what they need?

As is the case with everything in life, context is key.

During Minooka’s Saturday afternoon blowout win over Morris, starting forward Naya Carter had to be helped off the court in the first half. The junior’s leg was elevated and her foot wrapped in ice the rest of the game.

Coach John Placher even acknowledged Carter would likely miss time following the contest.

“Naya Carter getting hurt tonight means we have to see who is going to step up the next couple of games,” Placher said. “We’ll go from there. ...We’ve got to stay healthy.”

This will be no shock to anyone who has followed Minooka the past few years, but the person who stepped up Monday evening was none other than Madelyn Kiper.

Kiper, a Kent State commit, has been one of the best players in the area to start the season. Against Morris, she scored 29 points through three quarters before resting the fourth.

She was just as electric Monday, scoring 27 points while hauling in a career-high 15 rebounds. The 27 points is nothing new, but to keep powering the team while the Indians are without their 5-foot-7 captain Carter was impressive all the same.

“We’re just working together as a team,” Kiper said after the Morris game. “I felt like for a little bit we were playing one-on-one basketball and we’ve really picked it up as a team lately.”

Minooka’s only loss this year came to Providence in the WJOL championship game. The rate the Indians are going, there should be a lot more wins on the way.

Turnaround at JCA

There’s no sugarcoating it: It’s been a rough few years for Joliet Catholic. The Angels went 5-27 in the 2023-24 season and 7-26 last season. That’s four games less than they won all of 2022-23.

It’s still early, yes. There have been plenty of hiccups in 2025, too, fair. The fact remains, however, that Joliet Catholic is on pace for its best season in three years and they’re doing it with a relatively young roster.

The Angels are 6-6 as of this writing, surpassing their 23-24 win total and nearly equaling last year just midway through the year. Yes, four of those losses (Providence, Marist, Nazareth, Plainfield North) have been quite one sided, but those are four of the better teams around.

Oh, and that Minooka team mentioned above? The Angels lost to them in the opener just 64-61. What’s more is they’ve won three of their last four, including a dominant 49-30 win over Plainfield Central.

Most of Joliet Catholic’s contributors have been sophomores and juniors. Emma Napier, one of their leading scorers, is just a freshman. First-year head coach Matthew Adler is guiding quite the turnaround this year and the future is shining bright already.

Don’t call it a comeback

Speaking of turnarounds, what Joliet Central has been up to can’t quite be called that. After all, they went 16-17 last year and won a playoff game. With Elliana Fowler’s return from injury and Nevaeh Wright back for her senior year, the expectations were high.

The Steelmen didn’t quite jump out of the gym to start, losing four of their first five games, but all four were competitive losses. They hung in with Joliet Catholic and Minooka as well as anyone. Since then, they’ve won three of their last four.

The last two wins against Plainfield Central and Romeoville were lopsided as the Steelmen sit at 4-5 on the year. With Fowler shaking the rust off and Wright adapting to sharing the offensive load, things are looking up for Joliet Central.