CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No team in November is a finished product, and that even applies to Illinois’ top-ranked squad in Class 2A.
St. Thomas More, returning the nucleus of last winter’s state runner-up team, is off to a predictably strong start, including a 5-0 sweep through the seventh annual Blue Star Country Classic this week. Yet that doesn’t mean coach Chris Mennig has a scarcity of areas to zero in on during practice.
“We haven’t gotten in the gym enough to have that (offensive) rhythm,” said Mennig, Blue Star’s national evaluator. “Those types of things, I’m not going to lose my mind over at this time in the year. It’s more (about) consistent effort and respecting the game, and that was a bit of a disappointment for the first part of (Saturday’s) game.”
The Sabers defeated crosstown rival Champaign Centennial 54-30 in that game, shaking off a sluggish beginning by St. Thomas More’s standards. STM led by 10 at halftime before opening a comfortable margin with a pair of second-half spurts.
The focus, as always, was on STM’s Tori McCoy, Blue’s Star’s top-ranked player in the Class of 2016. McCoy had 23 points, seven blocks and three steals, while teammate Lexi Wallen added 16 points and Southern Indiana signee Randa Harshbarger chipped in six steals.
Centennial used a familiar tactic in attempting to slow the Sabers: zone defense. With the 6-foot-4 McCoy being a dominant presence, the Sabers can expect to see plenty of zone the rest of the season, particularly against small-school opponents who lack the ability to match up with a tall, supremely athletic post player. For most opponents, man-to-man proves futile against McCoy and the Sabers.
“Everybody north of Interstate 80 won’t (zone us),” said Mennig, whose central Illinois-based schedule also includes games against Oak Park Fenwick (Nov. 30), powerhouse Chicago Whitney Young (Dec. 14) along with an appearance in the McDonald’s Chicagoland Prep Classic (Jan. 18). “That’s the only way I’m going to get to see any (man-to-man), probably.”
It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Sabers to know how to effectively attack a zone. And that’s definitely a work in progress.
“We have a very remedial zone repertoire right now offensively,” Mennig said. “I made sure we had what we needed for Neuqua Valley (a 67-53 win against Class 4A’s sixth-ranked team), but I told them, make no mistake, by the time we’re done we’ll have 15-20 zone hitters. We know what’s in front of us in that regard.”
Part of that involves being able to give McCoy adequate help. The other Sabers can’t sit back and let McCoy go to work. They’ll need to loosen the zone’s noose around McCoy by being willing to fire up the open perimeter shots they’re sure to see.
“She obviously draws a lot of attention, so it’s always being ready when its your turn,” Wallen said.
“Our coach always talks about when you get the ball your first option should always be to look for yourself, and if it’s your second thought, don’t shoot, even if you’re open.”
“That rhythm shot, we call it,” Mennig said.
Effective perimeter shooting can take some heat off McCoy, but the team’s fortunes still revolve around her ability to be an all-around force. To do that, she must avoid the foul trouble that occasionally plagued her as a freshman. It popped up in that game against Neuqua Valley, when McCoy picked up two fouls five minutes into the game and got her third foul one minute into the second half. But she played the rest of the game without picking up her fourth, and finished with 25 points (11 of 13), 12 rebounds and five blocks. Representatives from Illinois, Purdue, Kentucky and Western Michigan were in attendance.
“The other night (a 61-20 victory against Danville) she picked up her third when she was a little gassed, a little frustrated on the kind of foul,” Mennig said, “and then on the ensuing offensive possession, she does a reach-in on a guard coming across that didn’t really need to happen. It was a frustration foul, and I subbed her out and told her it was a learning moment. You can’t do that. You let your emotions take over that action. You are smart enough to know that wasn’t going to benefit us in that moment.”
The Sabers won their five games in the Country Classic by an average of 35 points, including a 76-14 victory against Class 1A’s third-ranked team, Danville Schlarman. But there were other highlights:
—Mahomet-Seymour went 4-1, the only defeat a 49-29 decision against STM. The Bulldogs knocked off Centennial 45-35 behind a balanced offense led by Allison Fritz’s 14 points. Maddie See had 11 rebounds.
–Champaign Central sophomore Airiana Smith showed her promise with a strong tourney for the Maroons. Smith, who competed for a spot on the U.S. National Under-16 team last summer, scored 17 points in a 45-39 win against Danville.
–Another top sophomore, Schlarman’s Sierra Bell, scored 19 points in the Hilltoppers’ 56-39 loss to Centennial. Bell had eight of her team’s 14 points in the loss to STM.
–Centennial got 24 points from Jasmine Kyler in a 56-39 win against Schlarman.
–Urbana’s Kiara Moses averaged 19 points in five games for the Tigers. She scored 25 of her team’s 29 points in a loss against Schlarman and 21 of her team’s 23 in a loss against Centennial.
All Tournament Team (as voted on by the coaches)
Senior – Allison Fritz – Mahomet-Seymour
Sophomore – Sierra Bell – Schlarman Academy
Senior – Randa Harshbarger – St. Thomas More
Sophomore – Tori McCoy – St. Thomas More
Junior – Lexi Wallen – St. Thomas More
