Beating the best.

Starting with their first tournament from Nov. 17-27, girls basketball will have to overcome some of the top teams in the state in order to be successful.

“It’s a very good tournament. That’s why we switched out of the Deerfield tournament, so that we could see some better competition,” explained coach Elliot Whitefield. We are going to be tested early, which is good.”

6’0” junior Leighah Wool is a returning all-conference player, and is not intimidated by the talent in the tournament, but instead feels confident that the team will be in good shape.

“Right now we have to regroup and get back into the hang of things. But by the first game I think we will be ready to go,” said Wool. “As a team we have to key in on staying focused and out-hustling teams. If we achieve do these things we’ll be very hard to beat.”

These tournament games are only the beginning of the Kit’s challenging schedule. Dec. 5 marks the beginning of the Chicagoland Shootout at Fremd, along with a Christmas tournament at Montini Catholic. Each of these tournaments will feature some of the best teams in and out of the state, as well as a lot of college scouts and coaches.

“Knowing that the teams we will be playing are going to be a challenge, everyone has been pushing themselves to the best of their ability in practice,” said senior Helen Enghauser. “Our plan especially for the first tournament is to work hard and play as a team to start the season off strong.”

6’0” junior Krystal Forrester is beginning her third season on the varsity team, and has seen the progression through the years. She is also confident in the team’s ability to compete and be ready for this first tournament.

“The team is looking great as we start to get back in shape,” said Forester. “Even with our success last year, we have great intensity and are even more competitive this year.”
“We’ve been working on a lot of defensive drills,” said 5’7” junior Brianna Miller. “At first I was a little nervous about this tournament but as we started working on defending some of the good players, everything started to come together. We have a solid team.”

This year there will be a lot of the same faces on the court, with six sophomores now returning as juniors. A lot will be resting on their shoulders, and Whitefield is expecting the team to be in top form in time for the season.

“It’s about heart, want, and sticking together. So we’ll see, it’s a journey.”