Sandburg girls basketball has been moving on up the past two seasons, and over the summer the Eagles were just moving, period.
Coach Nick Fotopoulos took his team to tournaments at Marian Catholic and Batavia. There also was a one-day visit to Olivet Nazarene and a longer trip to Grand Valley State in Michigan.
He saw the traveling as a key element in the Eagles’ goal of building on their recent momentum. Sandburg has won back-to-back regional championships for the first time in 19 years and their 25 wins last winter were the most since the 2004-05 team went 32-4 and reached the Elite Eight.
“We were all over the place,” Fotopoulos said. “A lot of growth, learning and understanding how to compete at the varsity level with these girls.”
This summer has given them a look at who is next up in the program. Juniors Gyneen Ali and Audrey Haas, as well as sophomore Autumn Cruz, were making a name for themselves in June.
“Ali was on our team last year as a sophomore, and she got some bigger minutes down the stretch for us,” Fotopoulos said. “She had a really nice summer. Having confidence from that and continuing that, she’ll play really well for us moving forward.”
Cruz played at the JV level as a freshman, but could potentially see varsity minutes this upcoming season.
“She had a really nice summer,” Fotopoulos said. “She opened her eyes a little bit. She’s able to handle the ball and played some really solid defense.”
Haas is a post player and with Monique Nkwogu graduating in May, she has an opportunity to step into a larger role.
A plus for this Sandburg team is its experience, especially in the starting five. Four starters are back: Ellie Driscoll, Makaleigh Terry, Olivia Trunk and Zoe Trunk.
“With the experience we have coming back with those that have played varsity all four years, I think it gives us a little bit of an advantage,” Fotopoulos said. “If we can stack some wins in conference, that’s going to be good for us.”
He is hoping his seniors will continue to show the way for their younger teammates.
“The biggest thing we need from them is continued leadership and being able to uplift our young players and the bench,” Fotopoulos said. “If we can get them to take the next step leadership-wise and continue to help our younger players understand what varsity basketball might be, I think that’s going to be really good for them.”
Last season Eagles defeated Homewood-Flossmoor in the regional final before falling to Marist to end their season.
Fotopoulos said his team often talked about going beyond the sectional semifinals.
“We have to have the mentality of, ‘We have been here twice now, how do we take that next step to get past this?’” Fotopoulos said. “If we can understand that and kind of learn from our experiences, I think we’re going to really get a chance to do something special.”