4A Sectional Finals Standouts (Pt 1)
In this article:
The Sectional Finals were highly anticipated… but delivered. There were blowouts, close games, and upsets. Teams went home to reflect on the season, others went home to get prepared for Monday.
In specifics to the 4A Section Finals.. below were my selected predictions from the day before.
(1) Loyola Vs. (2) Maine South
(1) Stevenson Vs. (6) Lake Zurich
(1) Benet Vs. (2) Naperville North
(1) Lyons Township Vs. (3) Whitney Young
(1) Bolingbrook Vs. (3) Homewood-Flossmoor
(1) Edwardsville Vs. (5) Normal (Community)
(2) Wheaton North Vs. (4) St. Charles East
(1) Barrington Vs. (2) South Elgin
Below are the winners and standouts from each game above.
Loyola
’22 Angelina Giordano Angelina Giordano 5'9" | SG Loyola Academy | 2022 State IL | 5’9 Guard | Loyola
A defensive-minded guard whose on-court leadership extends to the whole team. Angelina plays the game smart, patient, and poised. She can attack the paint with strength and pace, or knock down shots from the mid to three. On the defensive side of the ball, she plays her assignment correctly… gets balanced, and stays in front. Her overall IQ and court vision are just simply top tier. The unsigned senior guard continues to show in which game why she would be a key asset to any program.
’22 Emily Pape Emily Pape 6'0" | SF Maine South | 2022 State IL | 6’0 Wing | Maine South
Cornell has some tremendous talent coming in this next school year, and Emily is one of the maine ones. Lengthy, skilled, and versatile. Pape is an efficient scorer, who gets up down the court quickly to create more opportunities for herself and her teammates … she’s shifty, athletic, and can take all positions off the dribble. Her strength matched with her creativity gets her easy buckets around the rim. The Cornell commit will be a great addition to the team, her skillset fits in seamlessly.
Stevenson
’22 Ava Bardic Ava Bardic 5'8" | CG Stevenson | 2022 State IL | 5’8 Guard | Stevenson
Confident as they come, and has the perfect skillset to back it up. Bardic is a sharpshooter who can score with resilience and strength in the paint, or pick and pop at the mid. High energy with an even higher motor. She’s a tough guard who plays through fouls or hard falls. Poised and pace is the name of her game. On the defensive side.. that same toughness and relentlessness are shown. She can guard the 1-3 and be physical with 4 or 5s when needed.
’23 Baylie Parks | 5’10 Guard | Lake Zurich
Parks is a talented combo guard who contributes on both ends from start to finish. Defensively, she plays the passing lanes with ease and continues to shoot the gap while getting high-numbered steals. Her length allows her to block most… if not all. Offensively, she shows the ball handling skill to weave her way through traffic and the strength to finish at the rim no matter whose down there. Baylie is also one not to leave open, she has a textbook form that usually results in all net from downtown.
Benet
’22 Morgan Demos Morgan Demos 6'2" | C Benet Academy | 2022 State IL | 6’0 Post | Benet
A strong post who can back her way down from the elbow to the lowest block with no problem. The Navy commit is a traditional back-to-the-basket post type but can face up when needed. Relentless on both the O&D boards and tough on the defensive side of the post as well. Physical is how Demos gets the job done. She captured the Sectional Champion with a double-double performance. 18 points and 12 rebounds
’22 Sarah Crossett Sarah Crossett 6'0" | PF Naperville North | 2022 State IL | 6’0 Stretch Forward | Naperville North
Skilled and technical. Efficient in the low post, creative around the rim, and patient when posting up. The Tuft U commit shows versatility at the 4-5 position to be a threat from all angles and levels of the court. She can make the three, knock down the mid-range or completely dominate on the block. Defensively, her IQ and awareness are on high levels. Though the result wasn’t in her favor, Crosset played her last HS game with 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Whitney Young
’25 Destiny Jackson Destiny Jackson 5'6" | CG Whitney Young | 2025 State IL | 5’7 Combo Guard | Whitney Young
The freshman phenom talent is nowhere near her age, and with the 30 ball she scored a couple of games back, the masses were put on notice. Destiny is a scoring threat and a matchup nightmare for any defense. She can shoot the long ball, create space to get to the mid or finesse her way to the paint and finish over the top or around. Defensively, she guards with a ton of passion and grit… that just gloves up ball handlers.
’23 Ella Ormsby Ella Ormsby 5'8" | PG Lyons Township | 2023 IL | 5’8” Guard | Lyons Township
The junior standout has shown and has proven why she’s one of the best scorers in her class. Ella has the shooting form that is just fluid from any location on the court. She’s a lights-out shooter who believes she can hit it from anywhere. Defensively, her IQ and awareness are noticed within the first couple of possessions. The constant motion she plays with on offense translates to the other side of the ball as well.