The girls varsity basketball team tipped off their season with a 51-33 victory against the Von Steuben Panthers. The NWN got the chance to talk to head coach Tony Konsewicz to get the scoop on the upcoming season and how the girls have been preparing in practice.
NWN: Now a couple weeks into practice, what have you noticed about this year’s team?
Konsewicz: We’re a very young team. We have one freshman and three sophomores with us, and there’s some growing pains. They’re not accustomed to the varsity pace or the competition at the varsity level. Even in practice they’re struggling with some of the competition, but they’re learning, getting better every day and as long as they have the attitude to want to get better every day that’s good for us.
NWN: Does the team have an “identity” they want to carry?
Konsewicz: We’re one of the smallest teams out there. (Junior) Julia Easter is our tallest player at 5’9, so we’re a very short team. So, we’d like to use our height to our advantage and try and get up and down the floor a little bit, try and be a little bit of a faster team and cause a little bit of havoc. [We want to] pressure the ball so we don’t get sit in half court defenses and get picked apart.
NWN: It’s hard to talk about Niles West girls basketball without bringing up Jewell Loyd. Even though this is the second year without her, having moved onto college, how has she and how is she still impacting the players in the program?
Konsewicz: Jewell plays at such a high level. When she was here she played at a high level, so a girl like (senior) Alex Galanapoulos, who was a freshman on a team with her really had two years to play with her (junior Katherine De Lara also played with Loyd as a freshman), and to see what it takes to compete at a higher level than most high school girls are used to. And then, that permeates through the team. Alex knows that standard, and now that Jewell has moved on, she tries to, as a captain and leader, to instill that work ethic for what it takes to succeed and play at a high level.
NWN: Is there a particular match up you’re looking forward to this season?
Konsewicz: The Niles North game is always big, it’s always special. Not only the crosstown rivals but we started the breast cancer initiative that’s done in all sports now– girls basketball started that with Niles North, so that’s always a special game. A lot of the girls know each other from being in the neighborhoods maybe or playing in junior high against one another. And then, all of our conference games. We look forward to putting our forward and competing with all of our conference teams. We know that it’s a very strong conference of play and one of the best in the area, so it’s always good to play tough competition like that.
NWN: Galanapoulos missed all of last season with a torn ACL. How did she handle the recovery process?
Konsewicz: To her credit, she didn’t miss one day of practice during that whole time. Mentally it was tough on her not being able to play but being in practice every day not being able to compete during the games, but I know she’s looking forward to her senior year and we’re looking forward to having her back on the floor. She’s responding like a normal ACL injury. The nice part about her [situation] is that she was cleared to play in the summer time so she was able to get some summer league games under her belt, so that helped her our. Ironically, she’s going through some of the same rehab experiences that Derrick Rose has. With his hamstrings being sore and tight, she’s experiencing that too. But to her credit she knows what at stake– it’s her senior year and she really gives everything she has out there.
The girls will take on St. Francis de Sales in an away game tonight at 7 p.m.
Video by Michelle Sproat
