ROCKTON—The Hononegah girls basketball team’s roster essentially took on the role as the starting cast of “Dirty Jobs” this season.
The Indians used an intense and scrappy defensive press to force turnovers and limit other teams’ offensive flow while sporting an offense that, rather than showcasing one super hot-scoring star, was filled with well-rounded shooters and contributors.
Hononegah head coach Jason Brunke admitted that with his squad’s unselfish attitude and his players’ tendency to have no issue doing the kind of work that, in most cases, no one else wants to do can make it a little tough when it comes time to pick the NIC-10 All-Conference team.
“It’s always hard,” said Brunke, who was named NIC-10 Coach of the Year. “It’s just such a difficult task. There’s so many deserving players. There’s only 15 that get selected to it. I try to remind the coaches — when we are so balanced there’s a reason we’re winning a lot.”
The Indians, who went 18-0 in the NIC-10, upped their winning streak in conference play to 56-straight games and won a regional championship before falling in the sectional finals, placed three on the First Team: senior guards Jordan Johnston and Olivia Robinson along with sophomore center Jordan Dimke.
“Their statistics may not jump off the page because they’re not getting as many minutes because sometimes our starters sit in the fourth quarter,” Brunke continued. “Our players are willing to sacrifice personal statistics and that makes us run as a system.”
While the offensive numbers may not be totally eye-popping, all three had very impressive statistics on the defensive side.
Johnston averaged eight points per game on a 39.3% shooting average while going 43-for-131 on 3-pointers. She snatched 116 rebounds, dished out 122 assists, recorded 83 steals and nine blocks while taking 13 total charges.
And the trend continues with Robinson and Dimke. Modest scoring numbers with a slew of impressive stats everywhere else.
Robinson averaged 9.2 points per game with a 31.1 shooting percentage from the field and 32% on threes. She grabbed 126 rebounds and paced Hononegah in both assists (145) and steals (113).
Dimke became a force to be reckoned with in the post as she used her 6-foot frame to deliver driving layup after driving layup. She averaged 12.9 ppg while shooting 52% from the floor. The sophomore was 27-for-65 (41.5%) on 3-pointers, was a menace on the boards with a team-high 281 rebounds and 11 blocks while adding 105 steals and seven charges.
The Indians thrived off shutting down opposing teams. In 35 games, Hononegah allowed just 33.4 points per game.
“It’s constant effort and energy,” said Brunke about what helps the defense run so well. “They’re constantly working on playing your role and doing your assignment really well. And when we had to tweak game plans a little bit, this group did a great job of being able to go from our base 1-2-2 and adjust when we had some big time players that we had to play against.”
Hononegah’s 30-5 record coupled with an impressive postseason run helped Brunke earn NIC-10 Coach of the Year for the third-straight season. He has won it in three of his four seasons with the Indians.
“I appreciate the recognition from my peers, I’m very thankful and grateful for that,” Brunke said. “But it’s very reflective of a lot more than just me. I’m just pushing some buttons here and there. It says a lot about our entire coaching staff, the players, the parents and our community members who continue to buy into the program and support it.”
While the ultimate goal is always to capture an elusive state title, Brunke remains proud of all this season’s group was able to accomplish. And he hopes the younger players coming back learned a thing or two from this season’s team.
“We said to this next season’s group, which is going to be pretty young, ‘I hope you guys are taking some notes on this,’” he said. “Because the lead that you saw from these five seniors (Allyson Niedfeldt, Danielle Franz and Isabella Pierson rounding out the five) in various ways is exactly how you have to behave if you want to achieve what they achieved.”
Rockford Boylan’s Lily Esparza headed the first team as the NIC-10’s Player of the Year. The senior led the second-place Titans to a 15-3 conference record with her double-double average of 19 ppg and 10.9 rebounds per game.
The entire team follows:
FIRST TEAM: Jordan Johnston, Hononegah; Olivia Robinson, Hononegah; Jordan Dimke, Hononegah; Lily Esparza, Rockford Boylan; Alayna Petalber, Rockford Boylan; Deniya Gray, Rockford Guilford; Emma Pierson, Belvidere; Destiny Robinson, Auburn; Alivia Brown, Auburn; Taelor Paulsen, Harlem.
SPECIAL MENTION: Kaylee Harter, Rockford Boylan; Abbie Bracius, Rockford Jefferson; Tamara Blackmon, Rockford Jefferson; Ava Gray, Auburn; Jaliyha Young, Freeport.
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