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FEATURE ARTICLE
State
Tournament 2011
Girls'
Power Rankings
By Aaron Brown
To be perfectly honest,
any of the eight teams could walk away with the state title this season.
It's that kind of year. Throw any of the regular season happenings out the
window and enjoy the ride is probably the best advice one could give a fan
of the sport. So we wipe the slate clean and try to rank the teams as we
enter the most important week of the season. Here goes:
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1. St
Ignatius
In the last two weeks, the
Wolfpack have won the Catholic League title and their own sectional.
In fact, they made it look quite easy (it wasn't). Of the teams left,
they have shown the most resilience, so they just might be the team to
beat over the weekend.
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2.
Naperville Central
It's tough to put Naperville Central in the two
spot here even though they are ranked #1. They only have one loss (at
Fenwick, 6-5) and have several high-quality wins in 2011. But they
haven't been tested like St Ignatius has down the stretch, so they'll
need to be ready for some difficult games, starting with what amounts
to a road game in a hostile environment against a red-hot Stevenson
team.
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3.
Homewood-Flossmoor
H-F is ready. The Vikings are loaded with depth,
talent, experience, you name it. They also won't be in awe of a
Fenwick team that they beat in this same spot last season. Can they
repeat the run they had last year? If they win their opener, they have
as good a chance as anyone to walk away with the title.
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4.
Loyola
The Ramblers didn't mess around in their usually
close sectional final game with New Trier. They were also impressive
the week before when they beat Fenwick in the MCAC Tourney. They
may have lost to St Ignatius last weekend, but they also have a great
mix of depth and experience that can help them get their revenge
against the Wolfpack on Thursday.
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5. Fenwick
The Friars could very easily be the number one team
on this list. They've beaten H-F already this year, plus they probably
haven't forgiven them for knocking them out of the postseason in 2010.
They cruised through their own sectional and may also relish playing
the role of the hunter instead of the hunted on Thursday afternoon.
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6.
Stevenson
You could see Stevenson improving as the 2011
season wore on. Dominating the proceedings in a 9-5 win over
Mundelein? That was a bit of a surprise, so the Patriots are probably
not a team anyone wants to play at state, especially when you factor
in that they are playing at home.
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7. Mother
McAuley
It's been quite a season for the Mighty Macs. Big
wins. Tough losses. But they won their biggest two games of the season
when it mattered most, beating Lyons and Sandburg in two straight days
to get to state. They'll be looking for another big win when they take
on Fremd on Thursday.
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8. Fremd
A team that posts a shutout in a sectional final
must be doing something right. The Vikings have a great balance on
offense and defense, so they could be one of those teams that has
everything clicking and can peak at the right time. They will likely
prove to be quite the challenge for Mother McAuley in the opening
round.
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