Keller named to all-tourney team at Warren
By tim froehlig Contributor December 27, 2011 8:42PM
Lake Forest's Annie Keller goes up for a shot against Carmel during play in the Warren Tournament last week. She was named to the all-tournament team. | Ruthie Hauge ~ Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 30, 2012 9:48AM
Without question, a 3-14 overall record heading into 2012 isn’t quite what Lake Forest High School’s girls basketball team expected when the season began.
However, there are several reasons for optimism as the Scouts prepare to continue their North Suburban Conference Lake Division schedule.
For one, standout Annie Keller, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard, was named to the all-tournament team at last week’s Warren Holiday Tournament. It’s her first year on the varsity squad after playing as a freshman on the sophomore team a season ago.
Despite going 1-4 in the Warren tourney, Keller posted some eye-catching numbers. She had a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in a 50-48 win over Deerfield, and posted a 19-point, nine-rebound game the following day in a loss to Wheeling. In the tournament finale, Keller tallied six points and 11 rebounds against Palatine.
“It’s exciting to be able to score and rebound the way I have at the varsity level,” Keller said. “I’m only 5-8, so it’s a lot of work to be able to rebound over some of these taller girls out there. A lot of the credit for that goes to the rebounding drills and techniques we work on in practice.”
Those kinds of efforts are almost certain to help make the future a brighter place for the Scouts’ girls basketball program.
“We don’t have a lot of post presence on our team,” said Lake Forest coach Kyle Wilhelm. “But despite her lack of size, (Keller has) become a focal point in the paint. Annie knows how to crash the boards, and she’s given us a lot of second-chance opportunities and points. It’s been great to see her have so much success.”
Keller isn’t alone. Senior Mary Striedl, a 6-0 forward, has been denting the scoresheet in significant ways as well. She had eight points, four assists, four steals and three blocked shots against highly touted Grayslake Central (12-3). That was followed by a 13-point, eight-rebound performance against another solid Lake County team in Carmel (9-6).
Striedl then posted a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) in the victory over Deerfield. She notched seven rebounds and four steals against Palatine.
“My team is working really hard,” Striedl said. “This is definitely a rebuilding year, and we’re not quite where we want to be, but we’re doing our best to turn it around, which I think we’re starting to do in some ways.”
Lake Forest returns home to resume NSC play on Jan. 5, when it hosts Lake Zurich. The Scouts are 0-5 in their division, but welcome the challenge of playing against standout clubs such as Stevenson, Wauconda, Libertyville and others.
“I’ve been proud of the effort our girls are putting in,” Wilhelm said. “We continue to fight out there, and if some of our shots start falling more often, it’s going to be a different game.”
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