ROCKTON — Brea Edwards never enjoyed playing against Nicole Smith. And that was before the 6-foot-4 Smith grew another inch this summer.
“I had to try to find so many ways to score. I’d try to get under her, around her, whatever I could,” Edwards said. “Of course, she’s going to block it, and when she blocks you, it comes down hard.”
Smith, who blocked 32 shots in three matchups against Edwards and Boylan last year, wasn’t a big fan of trying to stop Edwards, either.
“Her offensive rebounding is the best anyone has ever seen,” Smith said. “I don’t even know how she does it. “
“I just find the ball,” Edwards said.
Edwards and Smith don’t have to worry about facing each other anymore. Edwards’ transfer from Boylan to Hononegah gives the Indians the most star-studded team in NIC-10 history. Point guard Lindsay Carroll, who has already signed with Western Illinois, Edwards and juniors Smith and 3-point shooter Elizabeth Jordan give Hononegah four probable Division I players.
“Now we have every position filled,” Smith said. “We have point guard, both wings, our forward and our center.”
They actually have two point guards; Carroll and Meg Macy have both started at the point for Hononegah.
But they won’t have everything covered for a few weeks. Smith tore her ACL last spring after tearing the MCL in the same knee last year. She returned to practice this week and plans to start playing again in early December.
“She’s going to be fine,” Carroll said. “We don’t worry about it at all.”
No, the Indians are too busy dreaming about adding the 5-10 Edwards, who averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds, to Smith’s 15.8 points, 60 percent shooting and 194 blocked shots, Jordan’s 71 3-pointers and Carroll’s 92 3-pointers and 15.8 scoring average.
“We are going to go even faster this year,” Carroll said. “Brea can hand it to one of us guards and we’re just going to run the ball. As well as Brea rebounds, anything can happen.
“If they take me away, Brea is going to be wide open and just take over. And if they take Brea away, Nicole is going to be wide open. We’ll be scoring on everyone all day because we have so many weapons. No team is going to be able to stop us.”
Edwards also lessens Hononegah’s previous biggest worry: Smith often got in foul trouble chasing offensive rebounds.
“Brea might be the best offensive rebounder I’ve ever seen, at any level,” coach Randy Weibel said. “When she turns it up, she’s awful tough to stop.
“You surround Brea and Nicole with those two shooters and we have a chance to be very good.”
The Indians will face challenges in the NIC-10 from a 26-6 Auburn team that returns most of its lineup and Boylan returns two stars from a team Edwards led to a 58-8 record the last two years.
Amy Edwards, a single mom, said Brea transferred because they couldn’t pay the $8,000 tuition for non-Catholic seniors.
“Their tuition goes up $500 every year,” Amy Edwards said. “Father Lipinski lets you stretch it out as far as you can, but every year I was farther and farther behind. The first year I owed them $500. They next year I owed them $1,200. I just paid them $500 and I still owe them $1,000, and they don’t let you graduate if you are not paid up.”
The NIC-10 has a basketball bill that’s past due; Freeport finished second in 2008 and 2009, but no NIC-10 girls team has ever won a state title. Hononegah could be the first.
“I think we’re one of the best,” Carroll said. “I just hope we prove it and get downstate.”
--Matt Trowbridge, rrstar.com
Indians at a glance
Coach: Randy Weibel (12th year, 253-95)
Last year: 20-12 (12-4)
Returning starters: Nicole Smith (6-4 Jr.), Lindsay Carroll (5-6, Sr.), Elizabeth Jordan (5-9 Jr.), Meg Macy (5-6 Sr.).
Other key players: Brea Edwards (5-10, Sr.), Jena Hardyman (5-5 Jr.), Amy Bergstrom (5-5 Sr.), Kourtney Kavajecz (5-10 Sr.), Krystal James (5-5 Jr.).
Strengths: Everything. Coaching. Shooting. Height. Passing. Defense. Rebounding.
Weakness: Health.
Outlook: If Smith stays healthy, the Indians should be the most dominant team in NIC-10 history. And if Hononegah’s legion of 3-point shooters are hot at the right time, the Indians could win the NIC-10’s first state girls basketball title.
