NL_031220

38 | March 12, 2020 | the new lenox patriot sports
newlenoxpatriotdaily.com
Girls Basketball
Defending champ Morton ends
Providence’s best season ever
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
The Providence girls
basketball team had embraced
the saying, “We
didn’t come this far just to
come this far!”
In the end, the Celtics
went further than any other
team in program history.
But, they fell just short of a
trip to state.
That’s because the Celtics
ran into the juggernaut
that is Morton.
The defending Class 3A
state champions cruised to
a 45-12 victory over Providence
on March 2 in the
Class 3A Kankakee Supersectional.
The loss ended the best
season in Celtics girls
basketball history. They
finished 27-9, easily establishing
a new school record
for victories - 21 in 1996-
97 was the old mark - and
winning their first sectional
title in the process.
“I couldn’t be more
proud of my young ladies
this entire year, accomplishing
something that’s
never been done at our
school,” Providence coach
Eileen Copenhaver said.
“I’m just trying to embrace
the entirety of it all. We ran
into a powerhouse team in
every sense of the word.”
Providence senior guard
Lauren Knight, who led the
team with four points, also
won’t ever forget that her
team got this far.
“Once I get over being
sad, I’m still so proud of
how far we’ve come and
what we accomplished,”
Knight said. “We broke
our school record of wins.
No one’s won a sectional at
our school before. I’m just
Providence freshman guard Annalise Pietrzyk tries to
drive through the Morton defense during the Celtics’
loss in the Class 3A Kankakee Supersectional on March
2. GARY MIDDENDORF/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
so proud of how far we’ve
come and how much we’ve
grown.”
On the other side, the
undefeated Potters (36-0)
advanced to the state finals
for the sixth time in the
past eight years. They were
bidding for their fifth state
championship in the past
six seasons and the 36 wins
is already a school record.
“That was the best team
we’ve played,” Providence
junior Ashley Raymer said.
“It was terrible sitting on
the bench [after picking up
her third foul early in the
second quarter] and not being
able to help my teammates.
We had prepared so
much for [the Potters] but
everyone was getting frustrated,
because we can’t
really prepare for that pressure
defense.”
Morton forced the Celtics
into 28 turnovers and
5-of-27 (19 percent) shooting
from the field.
After Morton jumped
out to a 7-0 lead, Raymer
rained in a 3-pointer to get
the Celtics on the board.
Knight had a nice driving
layup and freshman
guard Annalise Pietrzyk hit
7
a short shot in the lane as
Providence closed within
three points at the end of
the opening quarter.
Providence trailed just
12-8 midway through the
second quarter and, if the
Celtics could get something
going maybe it could
hang in there with the top
team.
Instead, Morton went on
an 11-0 run to take a 23-8
halftime lead.
The season is what the
Celtics will remember, not
the last game.
“I still watch the videos
of us winning the sectional
and regional,” Knight said.
“I’m never going to forget
it.”
Five seniors - Knight,
Rost, Claire McGrath, Reagan
Tokoly and Spreitzer
graduate. But Pietrzyk and
Raymer were starters that
are expected back and there
were six sophomores on
this season’s squad.
“I want to bring them
back to this point,” Raymer
said of the Celtics next season.
“The last two weeks
have been the most fun
time. I want to come back
and experience it again.”
Former LW Central, North Athletic
Director Lyke named AD at H-F
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
Matt Lyke, who spent
11 years as an athletic
director in Lincoln-Way
District 210, is set to take
on the same position at
Homewood-Flossmoor
High School.
Lyke was approved as
H-F’s next athletic director
at a Feb. 18 school
board meeting and is set
to take on the role beginning
July 1, a District 233
spokesperson confirmed.
He has spent this school
year as the interim director
of activities at H-F, while
former activities director
Gail Smith has served as
interim athletic director.
Lyke was the athletic
This Week In
KNIGHTS VARSITY ATHLETICS
BADMINTON
■March ■ 16 – at Homewood-Flossmoor
quad, 4:30 p.m.
■March ■ 17 – at LW East, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
■March ■ 17 – Windy City Ram Classic first
round, TBA
BOYS INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
■March ■ 13 – at Batavia Invite, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
■March ■ 13 – at Batavia Invite, 4:30 p.m.
BOYS WATER POLO
■March ■ 12 – hosts St. Charles North, 5
p.m.
■March ■ 14 – at Bradley-Bourbonnais
Tournament, 9 a.m.
GIRLS WATER POLO
■March ■ 12 – at St. Charles North, 5 p.m.
■March ■ 17 – at Riverside-Brookfield, 5 p.m.
WARRIORS VARSITY ATHLETICS
GIRLS SOCCER
■March ■ 17 – Windy City Ram Classic first
round, TBA
director at Lincoln-Way
North for eight years before
moving over to Lincoln-Way
Central after
North’s closure. He served
as Central’s AD for three
years before resigning
Aug. 22.
The Will County Sheriff’s
Office, on Aug. 6, had
opened an investigation
into missing Lincoln-Way
Central Athletic Booster
Club funds.
Melissa McGrath, a former
athletic secretary at
Central, was arrested Nov.
22 and charged with five
counts of theft, two counts
of identification theft, two
counts of theft by deception
and two counts
of forgery, according to
a press release issued
the same evening by the
Will County Sheriff’s Office.
On Jan. 8, a grand jury
revised the charges against
McGrath to 15 in all: two
counts of theft, Class 1
felony Category A; four
counts of theft, Class 2 felony
Category A; one count
of theft, Class 2 felony
Category B; four counts
of theft, Class 3 felony
Category B; two counts
of forgery, Class 3 felony
Category B; and one count
of identity theft, Class 3
felony Category B; and
one count of identity theft,
Class 2 Category B, according
to the grand jury’s
bill of indictment.
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
■March ■ 13 – at Plainfied South Invite, 5
p.m.
■March ■ 17 – hosts LW West quad, 5 p.m.
BOYS WATER POLO
■March ■ 12 – hosts Bremen co-op, 5 p.m.
GIRLS WATER POLO
■March ■ 14 – at Hinsdale Central Invite, 9
a.m.
■March ■ 18 – at Richards co-op, 5 p.m.
CELTICS VARSITY ATHLETICS
GIRLS SOCCER
■March ■ 17 – Windy City Ram Classic first
round, TBA
BOYS INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
■March ■ 14 – at Plainfield North Invite, 9
a.m.
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
■March ■ 14 – at Reed-Custer Invite, 10 a.m.
LINCOLN-WAY CO-OP ATHLETICS
GIRLS LACROSSE
■March ■ 17 – hosts Naperville Central at
LW Central, 7:30 p.m.
6