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. Cary-Grove's Kay coach of the year By Steve Metsch rHereM New® Service CARY -- Bruce Kay would like to rename his award. The Shaw F ree P re s s Newspaper Group's 1984-85 Class AA Girls' Basketball Coach of the Year appreciates the attention, but would rather see it split several ways. "I might have been coach of the year, but it definitely was pro­ gram of the year," Kay said. Cary had a goal after last season's dismal 6-17 campaign. That goal -- winning -- was ac­ complished thanks to the hard work of players, their parents, Kay, and his assistants. Without the combined efforts, Cary wouldn't have finished tied for second place in the Fox Valley Conference, wouldn't be 18-9 and, wouldn't be playing in Wednesday night's sectional final against Johnsburg. The trail to success began last summer when the Trojan girls played as much hoops as possible. They split six games in Dundee- Crown's summer league. "You can't coach them during the games, so the girls figured out a lot themselves. That's when they truly learned the game. Once the season starts, you can't afford to run a learning experience. You have to get to it," Kay said. Nine Trojans attended Dick Baumgar tne r ' s week - long shooting camp in Richmond, Ind. Kentucky star Dickie Beal is a camp "graduate." "We sent nine, but not all nine came back the same as, let's say, Liz or Ammee have," Kay said. Jun io r L i z Ce l ske and sophomore Ammee Arrigo are two-thirds of Cary's "Big Three." Senior Cheryl Walejko completes the trio which boosted the team to the best basketball record -- boys or girls -- in Cary's 24-year history. When Walejko was sidelined with a mid-season foot injury, Cary lost 5-of-6. She and her two cronies combined for 50 points in a 54-47 regional-clinching win over Crystal Lake South on March 14. Kay realizes that without the threesome, his award would belong to another coach. Walejko shot 43 percent this year while Ar­ rigo was at 40 and Celske 39. Guard Karen Koe tossed in 40- percent field-goal shooting. "Ammee just continued to im­ prove. We knew she had good athletic instincts, but I wasn't real impressed until I watched a tape from last year. She's done quite a lot/' Kay said. Arrigo was lifted from Coach Bill Weller's sophomore team last year. Losing their best players to the varsity has become a routine for Weller and freshmen coach Rick McKelvey. "You need quality people like that to be successful. I may be coach of the year, but those two guys deserve credit for that," Kay said. Kay heisted three players off the last year's frosh team and bor- "*wed first-year standout Eve Barry for this month's playoffs. Beth Schweitzer,' whose reboun­ ding helped Cary beat Freeport in the sectional semifinal, could've starred for the sophs but spent the year on varsity. "The sophomores always run the other team's offense. A lot of times, they don't have their own practice time. Thay have their of­ fense and defense down, so they'd be Woodstock's or Jacobs' of­ fense. "Bill sometimes didn't get the time he needed, but he understood what needed to be done for the varsity to win. You have to have that for our situation," Kay said. Kay, 30, and Weller coached the freshmen boys through a winless 1982-83 seasonal hate to lose, but those six wins (last year) were the third-best basketball wins I had ever experienced," said Kay, who was Cary Athlete of the Year in 1971-72. Prior to this season, Kay knew that all the talk and diagrams and practices couldn't instill the con­ fidence winning does. So he scheduled several smaller Class A teams, squads he knew Cary had a fair chance of beating. "You need to win to feel confi­ dent. You have to win. When we got off to that 11-4 start, we knew we were better, but we also knew who we had played. We still hadn't beaten a Central or South," Kay said. The only FVC team Cary's girls didn't beat was first-place Central (12-0). Tiger mentor Linda Brady won last year's coaching award. She's built a strong program that Kay would like to emulate. But he can't do it alone. "The support the parents have given Tias been great. They're willing to spend the money to send their kids to basketball school and camp. We need their cooperation. "The turnaround we did was because a lot of things worked well together. The staff, the kids, the parents," Kay added. "It definitely was the program of the year." H<Jw right he is. 1984-85 SHAW-FREE PRESS ALL-AREA CLASS AA TEAM First Team: Tania Brammer Liz Celske Mary Jo Firnbach LAURA OEFFLING Kristi Oelkers Heather Rayka Second Team: Ammee Arrigo Judy Barry PEG CHILVERS VICKI DuBEAU Lea Geske Kim Hay Heidi Lorenz CRISMAY SHERI'SCAVO CL Central Cary-Grove Woodstock JOHNSBURG CL Central Jacobs Cary-Grove CL Central McHEN?v JOHNSBURG CL South Woodstock Dundoe-Cuwn JOHNSBURG JOHNSBURG - & ?../• '• , , $ • - UU P, 9- \ - , s := •* »' * . - Player of the Year: Firnbach Coach of the Year: Bruce Kay, Cary-Grove Team chosen by Shaw-Free Press Media sports writers Laura Oeffling i Yicki DuBeau Peg Chilvers Sheri Scavo Four 'Hawks, Chilvers named to all-area team Woodstock sophomore Mary Jo Firnbach was an outstanding ball-handler, in addition to her other well-honed skills. Firnbaci led the Fox Valley Conference in scoring, and helped the Streaks to a second-place league finish. For her efforts, she was named the player of the year. Woodstock's Firnbach is area's top player ; Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay led his team frc*!i a 6-17 record to a ' berth in the sectional finals in iu*t nzc season, making him the coach of th<» year. By Chris Juzwik Plalndealer-Herald (porta editor You might look at the 1984-85 Shaw-Free Press All-Area Class AA girls' basketball team and wonder. Why, you might ask, are there 15 girls, and only a first and second team? A good question. The competition for the 10 would-be spots on the two squads was so hot, so heavy, so ciose, that the sportswriters who made the selections couldn't decide. Men who make decisions every working minute of every day, couldn't choose. 'Is she better than her? How about this one? And don't forget that one.' -So, the best thing, it was decided, to do, was to narrow it down as best as it could be done, and then try to squeeze as many possible players onto two teams as was humanly possible. And the wheel stopped at 15. Only one senior appears on the first team, and only three on the nine-girl second squad. The number of underclassmen who comprise the group should make for some interesting basketball in a year. Heading the list is speedy Mary Jo Firnbach, chosen as player of the year. The sophomore guard led Woodstock into a second-place finish in the Fox Valley Conference. Johnsburg's Laura Oeffling, a junior wing who can play inside, outside a and anywhere in between, was also named to the first squad. Teammates Vicki DuBeau, Sheri Scavo and Cris May also received second-team status, as did McHenry's Peg Chilvers, who was the workhorse for a troubled Warrior team this past season. y Fox Valley champion Crystal Lake Central placed two players on the first team. Junior Tania Brammer, a high-scoring for­ ward, and senior Kristi Oelkers, the Tigers' floor leader, joined teammate Judy Barry (second team) on the squad. Cary-Grove, which will face Johnsburg in the sectional title game in Rockford Wednesday night, had two players named. Junior guard Liz Celske made the first team, while sophomore forward Ammee Arrigo made the second. Also on the first team was Jacobs' six-foot center, Heather Rayka, also a junior. Kim Hav of Woodstock, Heidi Lorenz of Dundee-Crown and Lea Geske of Crystal Lake South round out the team. Chilvers' 153 points led the slow-down, deliberate offense of McHenry. She also led the team in rebounds with 157. Her averages are 7.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg. She is one of only two seniors of the six on the McHenry squad to play basketball for four years. Oeffling led the Skyhawks in scoring. She was a deadeye from the baseline, and also helped DuBeau and freshman Carolvn Shine to dominate the boards for Johnsburg. May was the floor leader for the Skyhawks, leading the team in assists, while fellow senior Scavo used her outside shooting abilities to form a dynamite backcourt for Johnsburg, now 20-5 on the year. Firnbach was the first un­ derclassmen ever to be named player of the year. Cary-Grove mentor Bruce Kay was honored as coach of the year (see ac­ companying stories). BySamNatrop Plalndealer Herald Newt Service WOODSTOCK - In talking to Mary Jo Firnbach, it's kind of difficult to keep in mind that she's a high school sophomore. But then again, watching her on the basketball court poses the same problem - you watch her, and you leave the gym shaking your head. Her on-court personality mirrors that of her off-court demeanor. She plays like she converses - with a cool con­ fidence and an uplifting air that in no way indicates she thinks she's a hot-shot. "She's a real treat to coach. She's very cooperative," Woodstock Coach Steve Burris said. "Mary Jo understands the team concept in sports really well. She understands her role - give her role to play and she'll play it. He added that Firnbach didn't score as much last year "because we didn't need her to score. We gave her the ball and said, 'Here, run the point,' and was content. M.J. is a very unselfish player." But personality aside, Firnbach is an top-notch basketball player. Her efforts on the hardcourt this season earned her Player of the Year honors by vote of the sportswriters in the Shaw Free Press Newspaper Group. All the sophomore sensation did this season was average 20 points per game to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Playing point guard and inherting the ball-handling duties, she averaged only one turnover per game. When asked why she competes in three sports per school year she simply replied, "I like it. I like playing sports," she said. "I like helping the team out to get the same goal." "And," she added with a grin, "if I wasn't involved in sports, I'd get really bored. I can't stand just sitting around and waiting. I've got to keep doing something." As a freshman last season, Firnbach was elevated from the sophomore team to the varsity squad in mid-season. "Skill- wise, she was the best guard we had," Burris said of his decision to move Firnbach up. "She was head and shoulders above the others." That move may have caused hard feelings on most teams, but Firnbach said she didn't detect any jealousy among her teammates. "It was a lot harder adjusting as a freshman on the varsity, but my sister (Anna) was there and she helped me get along," she said. "This year wasn't quite as tough because I knew everybody who was coming back." Burris agreed: "M.J. is easy-going, very easy going. She can fit in with any group of people from freshmen to seniors. She's a very flexible person." Firnbach is a stand-out three-sport athlete. She was named to the all-Fox Valley Conference Softball team last season, and was tabbed this year on the all-FVC volleyball team. The Streaks were a Cinderella story in volleyball this past season as they posted a late-season surge and made it to the state meet in Springfield. She said that experience has helped her on the basketball court. "The pressure down there (in volleyball) was really something. It got me used to playing in front of a lot of people," she said. But to say that Firnbach's athletic prowess is self-taught would be unfair. "It was all we had to do as kids -- play sports," she said. "My brothers and sister helped me all along while I was growing up. Bill helped me and worked w i th me in basketball and my other brother, Joe, was a baseball player." As if three sports during the school year isn't enough, Firn­ bach said she plans on attending "at least three" summer sports camps (one in each sport) in addition to playing softball in the Woodstock Teener League summer program. Even though there are two very promising years left in her high school career, Firnbach said she has already thought about college. "I'd prefer to go to a small college where I could play two or even three sports," she said. "I'd really hate to choose one sport to play. But I have two years left to wait. I'll see what happens when I'm a senior." When the day comes that Mary Jo Firnbach plays in her final athletic event, there will be some sad coaches at Woodstock High School. But for now, the future belongs to the person they simply call "M.J." SECTION 2 - PAGE 14 - PLAINDEALER-HERALD. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20,1985 Sports