LF_042519

28 | April 25, 2019 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeader.com
Girls Basketball
Scouts’ Wilhelm named coach of the year
Nick Frazier, Sports Editor
Lake Forest coach Kyle
Wilhelm still thinks back
on his team’s sectional title
when his players stop by his
office.
“To actually be there in
that moment to do it, watching
the players reaction,
watching the celebration
and the pure joy on their
faces, it’s hard to explain,”
Wilhelm said. “It brings
a smile to my face when I
hear them talk about it, so
it’s something that I know is
a memory that they’ll never
forget.”
Wilhelm now has a new
reason to celebrate, as the
head coach was named the
Illinois Basketball Coaches
Association Distrcit Co-
Coach of the Year. The
Scouts won 27 games in
the 2018-19 season, setting
a new program record for
wins and was the first Lake
Forest basketball team to
win a sectional title. LFHS
defeated Fremd 49-43 to
clinch the sectional on Feb.
21, the high point of a special
season for Wilhelm.
“It’s obviously a great
honor,” Wilhelm said. “You
always look at the names
that are on the list of top
area coaches and coaches
in the state, it’s great to be
recognized in that company.
I think most importantly,
it usually means you had a
pretty good season. I think a
lot of the credit goes to the
staff we have and the kids
for making the job easier for
coaches and playing as hard
as they do.”
Sure enough, Wilhelm
had some great athletes on
his roster. Chief among them
was junior Halle Douglas,
22nd Century Media’s Athlete
of the Year and an IBCA
All-State first team selection.
She set single-season
records for points (543) and
Kyle Wilhelm led the Scouts to a program-record 27 wins
and the first basketball sectional title in Lake Forest history.
22nd Century Media File Photo
assists (200).
Also proving to be key
contributors for Lake Forest
were seniors Grace Tirzmalis
and Ellie Pearson, who
used their previous varsity
experience to power the
Scouts. Wilhelm, who won
his 100th game as head
coach this season, commended
the girls for focusing
on one game at a time.
“We had a good balance
of veteran leadership and
versatile players and whatnot,”
Wilhelm said. “They
did a really good job of
leaving all that other stuff
out. When you come to
practice and you focus on
basketball and they work together,
they got along, they
really did have each others
back from number one playing
to number 12 and 13 not
playing. They did a really
good job of all being with
each other, it just really allowed
them to gel.”
After starting the season
17-6, the Scouts went on
a tear, winning 10 of their
next 11 contests. The tail
end of the season is when
a team wants to be playing
its best basketball, and Wilhelm
made sure of that.
“Our last three wins were
probably not just the best
three games, but probably
the three best games we
played together as a team,”
Wilhelm said. “It was the
best time to put them together,
all of those together
help make for a really special
season.”
The magic ran out in the
Super-Sectional on Feb. 25,
when the Scouts lost to topranked
Maine West. That
doesn’t lessen Wilhelm and
the team’s accomplishments
in anyway. It just heightens
the expectations for the next
season, which Wilhelm and
his returning players are already
thinking about.
The loss of seniors Tirzmalis,
Pearson and Ainsley
Allan hurts, but otherwise
the Scouts return their core.
So does everyone else in
Class 4A. Wilhelm will enjoy
the IBCA’s honor for
now, but there’s work to be
done in his ninth season.
“If you don’t play well
on a given night, if you’re
not playing the right time
at the end of the season and
you have an off night, your
season ends,” Wihelm said.
“As much as we’ve set new
goals and a new standard,
it’s really important that we
put in the preparation to put
ourselves in a position to
have another one of those
opportunities.”
high school highlights
The rest of the week in high school sports
SCOUTS VARSITY ATHLETICS
BASEBALL
Lake Forest 13, Clemente 2
Breck Nowik drove in three runs, and
Connor Morrison struck out six batters
in a win on Saturday, April 20.
GIRLS SOCCER
Lake Forest 1, Mundelein 0
The Scouts earned their 6th win of the
season with a victory over the Mustangs
on April 16.
BOYS TENNIS
Lake Forest 6, Warren 1
Oleksyi Vyshvanyuk, Sahil Conjeevaram,
and Scott DeNoble won their
singles sets on April 16.
BOYS LACROSSE
Lake Forest 14, Mundelein 4
The Scouts dominated the Mustangs
in a big win on Thursday, April 18.
Lake Forest 17, Carmel 9
Sophomore Richard Hoskins netted
four goals to lead the Scouts on Saturday,
April 20.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Lake Forest 15, Mundelein 9
Freshman Kate Kaptrosky scored seven
goals in a much-needed Scouts win
on Saturday, April 20.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Lake Forest 2, Lake Forest Academy 1
(25-13, 20-25, 25-13)
The Scouts moved to 11-3 overall
with a non-conference win over the
Caxys on April 16.
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
Wauconda Invitational
Junior Sydney Leonardi won the
400-meter race with a personal best of
1:00.48, and sophomore Madeline Medica
tied for first in the pole vault event
to lead the Scouts to a fourth-place team
finish on Thursday, April 18.
BOYS WATER POLO
Lake Forest 9, Prospect 7
The Scouts won one of their four
games in the Glenbrook South Tournament,
defeating the Knights on Saturday,
April 20.
GIRLS WATER POLO
Lake Forest 13, Libertyville 8
Tierney Sassen and Lily Mass each
scored three goals in the win on April
16.
Lake Forest 5, Maine West 4
The Scouts won one of their three
games in the Maine West Tournament
on Saturday, April 20.
Badminton
Wheeling Invitational
The Scouts finished first overall at the
Wheeling Invitational for the secondstraight
year on Saturday, April 20.
CAXYS VARSITY ATHLETICS
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Lake Forest 2, Lake Forest Academy 1
(13-25, 25-20, 13-25)
Payton Gryniewicz had five kills, and
Nick Shapiro had 13 assists in a loss to
the Scouts on April 16.
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
Wauconda Invitational
Freshman Jena Kuli ranked third in
the 100-meter race with a time of 13.57,
and senior Kenendy Smith ran a season
best 28.03 in the 200-meter dash to finish
third at the invitational on Thursday,
April 18.
BOYS TENNIS
Niles North 4, Lake Forest Academy 3
David Sun and Julian Yu won their
doubles match in a loss on April 15.
New Trier 4, Lake Forest Academy 3
Jack Selati won his singles match in
straight sets, but the Caxys fell to the
Trevians on April 16.
BOYS LACROSSE
Lake Forest Academy 14, Riverside-
Brookfield 1
The Caxys put on a clinic in a win on
Thursday, April 18.
WILDCATS VARSITY ATHLETICS
SOFTBALL
Woodlands 14, Latin School Chicago 11
The Wildcats came away victorious in
a high-scoring affair to move to 4-0 on
the season on April 16.