Striedl’s return gives Lake Forest a lift
By Mark Perlman Contributor November 21, 2011 11:30PM
Deerfield Liz Yucknut (No. 34) tries to score against Lake Forest's Mary Striedl. | Jerry Daliege~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 25, 2011 8:22AM
What a difference a year makes — or even three days.
That’s how long it took the Lake Forest High School girls basketball team (2-1) to surpass last year’s win total (1).
“The whole team is excited,” first-year Lake Forest coach Kyle Wilhelm said. “It was great to get the two wins. They’re having a blast and learning. Their reactions after the first two wins make it even more meaningful as a coach.”
Of course, one has to credit Wilhelm for injecting enthusiasm, but the players also have something to do with it, namely Mary Striedl.
She took last season off to concentrate on club volleyball, where she’s a right-side hitter bound for the University of Pittsburgh on an athletic scholarship. Striedl led the Scouts to the North Suburban Conference volleyball championship and a regional title earlier this month. But there was no way she was going to miss playing basketball her senior season.
“I just wanted to get a chance to play basketball my senior year,” Striedl said. “I’ve played for so long and I do love basketball.”
The senior guard/forward leads the Scouts, scoring 14 points per game. It’s not just her scoring though, that enables Striedl to contribute to her team.
“Mary is a great team player. She helps out with all facets of the game,” Wilhelm said. “She’s brings a lot of athleticism to the team and she’s very unselfish — always looking to put her teammates in a good position.”
Statistically, Striedl leads the team in most every category. Case in point was the Scouts 50-30 loss to host Deerfield at the Warriors Invitational on Saturday. Striedl struggled from the field in scoring her team-high 14 points, but showed her overall floor game with eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
Striedl is still playing club volleyball with Sky High, but the club and Wilhelm got together to make sure that both will work for Striedl.
“Everyone is being flexible and working around it,” she said. “I’m really lucky.”
Recap: In the season opener, Lake Forest defeated Regina Dominican 39-21, as Striedl led the way with 15 rebounds, 12 points and seven steals. Cat Perino contributed eight points,while Norie Kaufmann had a strong contest. Lake Forest actually trailed 17-8 in the second quarter but closed it out with an impressive 31-4 run. It was the Scouts’ defense that took charge, forcing turnovers with their pressure and forcing Regina into numerous errant shots. The team enjoyed a 36-26 rebound advantage with Kelsey Simet hauling down nine boards and Annie Keller getting eight.
“We did a great job rebounding and got a lot of deflections on defense,” Wilhelm said.
Lake Forest opened the Deerfield Thanksgiving Invitational with an exciting 40-34 victory over Waukegan. Once again, Striedl paced the attack with 15 points, while getting 10 steals as Lake Forest had 24 steals in all. Ali Danneker had nine points and four steals and Simet scored eight to go along with four steals. Keller had a team-high 10 rebounds. The Scouts used the same defensive pressure to withstand any comeback by the Bulldogs, with Jennifer Kreb taking a key role off the bench.
Lake Forest suffered its first loss on the season Saturday, 50-30 against Deerfield. Despite falling behind 39-16 after three quarters, the Scouts gamely fought on, outscoring the Warriors 14-11 in the final stanza.
“I’ve got to give credit to our players,” Wilhelm said. “They didn’t give up. They played hard the entire game.”
On the schedule: The Scouts, who was slated to play Evanson on Nov. 21 and Zion-Benton on Nov. 23, will complete play in the Deerfield Tournament on Saturday, when they take on Niles West at 4:30 p.m.
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