The girls varsity basketball team has shot their way to two back-to-back West Suburban Gold conference titles. For the 2024-2025 season they look to remain as the queens of the court and achieve their third straight conference title. The Mustangs will compete in 12 home and away games against conference opponents to determine the best team in the West Suburban Gold conference.
The girls basketball team finished off their 2023-2024 season with a conference record of 10-2 which helped them secure the conference title. With the gold side of the conference secured, the girls basketball team advanced to the WSC crossover final where they faced silver side winners and crosstown rival DGN which resulted in a narrow 51-43 loss to the Trojans. They also finished the season with a 18-14 overall record which set them up to be in a regional final clash with state heavyweights Waubonsie Valley.
This year the Mustangs look to be the first team to three-peat the conference title since Proviso East completed a five-peat of the conference title from 2015-2020. The Mustangs began their conference title defense with a bout between last season’s runners up and rivals Hinsdale South. The Mustangs defeated the Hornets 52-46 to begin 1-0 in conference play.
The Mustangs were led in that game by senior forward Hayven Harden who put up 17 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists in her double double performance. Junior Jakylah Thomas also put up 18 points and recorded 4 steals in the Mustang victory.
Senior forward Katelyn Konieczka commented on their victory against the Hornets.
“It’s definitely a great win, that’s probably our biggest opponent in the conference. It’s the team we are most excited for leading up to a game, so winning it takes a little bit off our chests. We can use our momentum to carry on the rest of the season and for the rest of the teams in conference,” Konieczka said.
The win against the Hornets puts the Mustangs on the right track this season as they look to continue their conference play with a string of four more games against Addison Trail, Proviso East, Morton, and Willowbrook.
Coach Lyndsie Long talked about facing a long string of conference opponents.
“We told them yesterday that if we wanted Tuesday’s game against Hinsdale South to matter then we have to continue to make growth and strides and come ready to play on Saturday when we take on Addison Trail at home. We can’t take steps back; we got to take steps forward,” Long said.
If the Mustangs continue to make strides in the West Suburban Gold Conference, they will find themselves back into a WSC crossover final where they look to take the crown as being the best team in both sides of the conference. The Mustangs will have to keep moving forward though without junior forward Megan Ganschow who is out this season with a torn ACL. Ganschow was a key player in last season’s campaign and has drawn much interest from college teams across the country.
Long described how Ganschow’s injury has been one of the factors of adversity that the team has overcome this season.
“We faced a ton of adversity losing Megan this year, but I think the leaders like Hayven Harden stepping up into a bigger role this year and leading us in every single game and practice; her leadership and her work ethic is just outstanding and everyone follows that. Our biggest thing is growth this year and synergy,” Long said.
