Lila Prindeville’s family moved from Manhattan to Manteno when she was 6 years old.
Now she has an extended family.
For years, Prindeville has been playing with a group of basketball players who are now high-school seniors making a lot of noise at Manteno.
“Playing with these girls is the biggest thing I love about basketball,” Prindeville said. “We’ve been playing since second grade and we’re family at this point.”
This is the last go-around for the family, and the Panthers are making the most of this season. They finished the 2025 portion of their schedule winning their second straight Chicago Christian Christmas Knight Tournament by beating Morton 57-37 on Dec. 27.
Emily Horath led the Panthers (15-1) with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Maddie Gesky added 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
Prindeville, the floor general for the team, had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Prindeville, Horath and Gesky were named to the all-tournament team for the second straight year.
The 5-foot-2 Prindeville doesn’t put up monster numbers, but she is valuable on the court in other ways.
“Coach (Bethany) Stritar always told me to be a leader and show the girls what to do,” Prindeville said. “That’s my role for the team.”
Stritar said that Prindeville is one of the best ball handlers on a team that has an abundance of them.
Prindeville is drawing interest from DuPage, Prairie State, Kankakee and Oakton and is in contact with a few other schools.
The Panthers went 4-0 in the tournament, but had a close shave in the first game with a 47-45 win over Marshall. Gesky had 17 points and eight rebounds while Horath added eight points and 12 rebounds.
Things got much easier after that escape as they beat Christ the King 75-13 and Chicago Christian 43-34.
Looking ahead, the Panthers have big ambitions for a deep postseason run after losing to Seneca in the regional finals last season.
They will be in the Class 2A Pontiac Sectional. They are in Sub-Sectional B along with Beecher, Peotone, Reed-Custer, Coal City, Herscher, Joliet Catholic, Bishop McNamara, Peotone, Seneca and Wilmington.
Hey 19
Crete-Monee’s girls basketball team opened play in the Hillcrest Holiday Tournament on Dec. 16 with a tight 49-44 win over Oak Forest and a 46-44 squeaker over Stagg.
Jada Franklin was the model of consistency with 19 points each game. Sakai Jones added 15 points in the Stagg win.
The Warriors (8-5) were beaten 46-32 in the semifinals but secured a top-four finish in the tournament. They were slated to play Phillips on Dec. 29 for third place.
Bobcats’ Johnson to NIU
Beecher’s Makenzie Johnson has signed to play softball at Northern Illinois.
The center fielder has a .459 career batting average for the Bobcats.