By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
It’s been a trying season to say the least for the IC Catholic Prep girls basketball season.
Coach Kelsey James noted her team has been felled by injuries and sicknesses throughout the campaign.
Standout Claire Gibler has not played in a game yet this season but was scheduled to be cleared medically earlier this week, James noted. Kiersten King, who it was anticipated would pick up the scoring slack in Gibler’s absence suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and missed a month.
“It’s been a rough year,” said James. “We’ve been battling some injuries and have been battling some sicknesses where we’re down players. Every week it’s been something different.”
IC Catholic Prep was 6-14 overall and 1-5 in Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division play through late last week.
In recent play, the Knights lost 49-38 to Aurora Central Catholic in conference action and dropped a 55-13 MSC Blue game to Glenbard South.
“We’ve gotten better at playing more as a team as things have gone on,” said James. “We’ve done more team stuff.”
Individually, point guard Jaida Smith and King, a guard-forward, have been two bright spots for the Knights thus far.
“Jaida is having a good year,” said James. “She’s probably been our most consistent player. She’s been averaging four assists and four steals for us. She’s been doing a lot of work. Kiersten has been having a good year as well. She’s been battling injury, so we haven’t had her every game. She attacks the basket for us and gives us a lot of good looks for layups and gets a lot of offensive rebounds.”
During the holiday, the Knights went 2-2 at a tournament in Bloomington. IC Catholic Prep scored wins against Leroy and Fairbury Prairie Central. “We shared the ball really well in the tournament,” said James. “We finished both games we won with about 15 assists and we played really good team defense.”
James said the return of Gibler will be a nice boost for the team. “Claire did most of our scoring,” said James. “We had to adjust who would do the scoring. Kiersten was scoring and then she was out for about a month. Claire hasn’t played this year. It will make a big difference.”
James noted around Christmas time the IC Catholic Prep staff figured out the team had exactly one practice up to that point where everyone was in attendance due to injuries and illnesses.
“We’ve had to take our lumps as the year has gone on,” she said.
Despite the tough go of it, James has been pleased with the team’s demeanor. “It’s a great group of girls. They definitely keep you on your toes,” she said. “They stay motivated and they come to play. They come in with a positive mindset, but the losing gets hard.”
The Knights have Riverside-Brookfield and Illiana Christian this week in MSC Blue play. IC Catholic Prep will host a regional this year and will find out regional seeding on Jan. 27.
“Being at home hosting regional will be beneficial to us,” she said. “Hopefully we will be healthy going into the playoffs.”
James noted the school’s recent Coaches vs. Cancer event that featured IC Catholic Prep boys and girls basketball games throughout the day was a major success. “We had a great turnout for it,” said James. “We raised a lot of money and all the teams had a good time. It was a fun night for everyone.”
