CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —It’s something of a problem — but it’s a nice problem to have.
Illinois Lady Lightning director Michael Seberger isn’t lacking talent in his program. And much of it is relatively young talent, including a 2018 class that just about anyone would love to emulate.
Seberger’s top team — the 17 Platinum squad — has five players from the 2018 class, which basically means they’ll be there for a while. So Seberger’s biggest challenge these days is making sure everyone understands — his players, their parents — that he’s trying to distribute them to various teams in ways that will help each succeed.
“I’ve got five 2018 kids playing ‘up’ on this team,” Seberger said during USJN’s 14th annual Mid America Challenge. “We’re a young team. And that’s why I lose kids.”
Some kids feel they should be on the Platinum squad, and eventually leave the program.
“That’s the crappiest part about this whole business,” Seberger said. “Because then the vultures come into play.”
For now, though, while Seberger tackles the challenge of keeping all of that talent happy, he can enjoy watching all of them compete. And they certainly know how to do that.
One of the Lady Lightning’s top teams — the 16 Silver squad — captured the title for Pools E-H in the 17/16U bracket Sunday. The Lady Lightning knocked off Illinois All In Athletics 15 Schoenbeck 55-45 in the final.
The Lady Lightning’s roster is stocked with 2018 and ’19 talent, headed by point guard Julia Martinez (5-foot-9, 2019, Loyola Academy).
“A stud point guard,” Seberger said. “She’s a BCS-level point guard, I think. Super quick with the ball, great decision maker, crafty player, getting to the basket consistently this year, really coming into her own.
“The biggest thing for her, between being a high-major and a BCS player, is going to be her outside shot. She’s working her tail off, five days a week, on that outside shot.”
Martinez has plenty of help, notably from shooting guard Sidney Bugaieski (6-0, 2018, Lyons Township) and post Madison Mallory (6-2, 2018, Geneva).
Martinez, according to Seberger, will be the starting point guard next year on the aforementioned Platinum squad. That team already has 2017 guard Kaylee Bambule (5-8, Montini Catholic) and 2018 guard Margaret Whitley (5-7, Geneva), both named honorable mention all-state last season by the Chicago Tribune.
Bambule has been fighting bone bruises in an ankle, Seberger said, and she sat out Sunday’s semifinal loss to Indy Magic 17 Blanding. Bambule struggled through Saturday’s action while the Lady Lightning finished off pool play undefeated with a come-from-behind win against Illinois Evolution 17 Teal.
That game matched many friends and rivals. Two of Whitley’s Geneva teammates play for the Evolution.
“It’s exciting, but it’s not,” Whitley said, trying to explain the joy — and difficulty — of facing your friends. “They’re like my best friends, those two. But at the same time it’s fun because we’ll always remember playing each other.”
So do bragging rights ever come into play?
“We usually make a (deal) that you can’t brag about it because then it just makes the other one mad,” Whitley said. “So we usually agree not to talk about it. … So when we’re mad at each other we usually bring it up.”
For a list of all the participating teams, pool All Stars, college programs in attendance and more, follow the link below to the USJN Mid America Challenge post event page:
http://www.usjn.com/xtm_post_event_new.php?which=361
Illinois Elite building something special?
Coach Tom Hohenadel’s Illinois Elite 15 National team crushed everyone in its path while capturing the title for Pools Q-T, in the process displaying some of the talent that could be the building blocks for a special group in the next couple years.
Despite injuries — Hohenadel said five players are currently nursing knee injuries — Illinois Elite has a bevy of talent in the ’18 and ’19 classes. Among the ones to watch: Myia Clark (5-9, 2018), whom Hohenadel says is a high major prospect; guard Tsimba Malonga (5-7, 2018), who picked up a scholarship offer from Marquette last week; three-pointer sharpshooters Vannessa Garrelts (5-5, 2018) and Aannah Interrante (6-0, 2018); and Kayla Caudle (6-1, 2019), Alyssa Geary (6-3, 2018) and Kate Moore (6-0, 2018).
And there are others who weren’t playing this weekend who figure to draw plenty of attention, like guard Marissa Knobloch (2019) and bigs Jayde Vanhyfte (2018) and Brooke Bowman (2019).
“Next year we will be so loaded it will be unbelievable,” Hohenadel said. “We’ll have two high school teams next year and they’ll be ridiculous.”
All In Athletics takes top 17/16U title
Illinois’ All In Athletics 17 Kahleaf squad defeated Indiana Magic 17 Blanding 53-45 Sunday to capture Pools A-D.
AIA is led by guards Carie Weinman (5-9) and Kelly Weyhrich (5-4), both 2017 products. Weinman, who along with teammate Claire Gritt committed to the University of Denver recently, averaged 15 points and four steals for Glenbrook South last winter.
“She starts our aggressivness on defense,” coach Kahleaf Russell said. “The way Kelly starts the offense, Carie starts the defense.”
Gritt and Weyhrich play at Arlington Heights Hersey.
Illinois Defenders hold on late for title
Mallory Olszak’s three-pointer with 39 seconds left lifted the Illinois Defenders 17 Nair squad to a 42-41 victory against the Indiana Elite Swish 16 Owen in the finale for Pools I-L.
“Mallory is a clutch player,” coach Jim Nair said. “She hit two free throws to seal the game (Saturday) and she had a game winner in our last tournament. She always steps up in the clutch.”
The Defenders survived Saturday’s pool play — “We were lucky we got here,” Nair said — but picked up their level of play on Sunday. True to their name, the Defenders’ switching defenses caused enough trouble to keep their wayward shooting from becoming too costly.
“I think one of our strengths is we switch things up a lot, sometimes to a fault,” Nair said. “We switch between man and zone, we trap, and we have three or four different presses. I think it slows down the other team and gets them a little confused.”
Illinois Rockets’ Benet Academy connection rolls on
Benet Academy of Illinois has captured two straight state titles in Class 4A, and the Redwings might have designs on a third.
Guard Kendal Schramek and post Katie Jaseckas are returning starters for Benet and also for coach Drew Ondik’s Illinois Rockets 17 squad, which catpured Pool A.
Schramek, Jaseckas and others will need to replace the graduation loss of Benet standout Kathleen Doyle, Illinois’ Miss Basketball.
“Since she was such a good player, we depended on her a lot, and all of us need to step up,” Schramek said. “I’ll need to score more and make things happen.”
Schramek also said the Redwings might surprise some folks who are unaware that they have added transfer Tsimba Malonga from Joliet Catholic. She sat out last season because of transfer rules and she figures to be a major force at point guard.
“I think we can do it again,” Schramek said.
Chicago Hoops Express has uncommitted talent
The Chicago Hoops Express should have a busy summer. Three of the Silver team’s top players — Kia Brooks (5-10, 2017), Alisa Fallon (5-10, 2018) and Daliyah Brown (5-7, 2018) — are uncommitted and will attract various levels of attention.
Brooks (North Lawndale) and teammates Fallon and Brown (Trinity) reached the Illinois state tournament last season.
Among the younger levels, however, one who is making noise is 2020 frontliner Lily Courier (6-0, Lyons Township).
“She’s really more of a post who can play the perimeter and she has a good body,” coach Jerald Davis said. “When you see her on the court nobody’s going to know she’s an eighth grader until you look in the book.”
Courier is likely to join CHE’s top team during its trip to the Blue Star Nationals in Augusta, Ga., in July.
“If she continues to grow into herself, she’s going to be a BCS-level kid,” Davis said.
