DePaul Prep Falls to Winnebago 66-47 in 2A Super-sectional

The DePaul Prep Rams girls’ varsity basketball team fell to the Winnebago Indians 66-47 in the IHSA 2A Super-sectional at Elgin High School on Monday (Feb. 28, 2022). DePaul Prep coach Sarah Zarymbski and her Rams advanced to the Super-sectional, one win shy of the IHSA 2A State Finals for the second time in the last two playoffs. There were no state playoffs in 2021.

Coming into the game with the No. 1 2A ranked Winnebago, the Rams gave away significant size to the Indians. What the Rams lacked in size, they made up for in three-point shooting ability. Twelve of the Rams 26 point at halftime came off of three-pointers.

“We knew [Winnebago] converged a lot when you break into the lane, so we knew the kickout would be there,” said Zarymbski.

“They will randomly go double you. So we emphasized to find the open player with quick movement to find the open shot.” That they did and the three-point opportunities were there.

The Indians held a two-point lead at the half.

As we all know, good teams make adjustments at halftime. And that was what the Indian experienced and successful coach Winnebago coach Tracy Miller did. Coach Miller has been coaching since “the last century” as she put it which includes a “four or five” sectional championships and a couple trips to the State Finals.

“We kicked up defense considerable. We made a few adjustments at half time. We switched off people, changed up our defense a little bit and that helped. We have had rough starts for the last four or five games. We made a few adjustments at halftime but when they come out from halftime, [our players] wanted to prove something,” said Miller.

The adjustments mattered. The Indians opened the third quarter with at 10-0 run putting the Rams down for good.

“The only way we were really scoring a lot in the first half was with the threes. And they took away the threes. So we knew we would struggle scoring inside just because of how big they were, how long,” Zarymbski admitted.

DePaul Prep had eight returning players from the 2019-2020 sectional championship team.

“It meant a lot taking nine seniors to one of these. We had some pretty bad losses along the course of the season. At one point, the girls said, this is it, we need to step it up if we want to get back there. They really did. Taking them there means so much,” DePaul Prep third year coach Sarah Zarymbski said when asked what it want it meant to return to a Super-sectional game.  

The Indians opened a twenty-one point lead with under four minutes to play and that was it for the Rams. Final score: Indians 66, Rams 45.

DePaul Prep Beats Regina 54-33 to Win 2A Sectional

DePaul Prep defeated Regina Dominican 54-33 at the IHSA 2A Christ the King Sectional Championship game on Thursday (Feb. 24, 2022) to advance to the Super-sectional game tonight against Winnebago at Elgin High School.

After the game, I asked DePaul Prep girls varsity coach Sarah Zarymbski how many sectional championships her teams have won.

“Well, it’s our second,” Coach Zarymbski said.

“In four years of coaching?” I responded.

“Three years,” she replied.

Coach Zarymbski left out the fact that there were no playoff last year. Two years of playoff and two sectional championships. DePaul Prep/Gordon Tech girls basketball had not won a sectional championship at least as far back as IHSA on-line records go back to 2008.

The Rams jumped out to an early lead on Regina Dominican. And held that lead. The game was close. Regina hung around during the first half.

The third quarter was the difference. The Rams out scored Regina 21-10 taking control of the game. Regina was done after that. The Rams held the ball and keep scoring eventually opening a twenty-one (21) point lead

With their second sectional championship secured, the Super-sectional looms for Monday. The Rams will face the number one ranked Winnebago Indians (33-2, 9-0) from the Big Northern Conference. The Rams and Indians had no common opponents this year. However, Winnebago did lose to St. Viator (20-13, 3-4) from the East Suburban Catholic Conference. The Lions finished fifth in the ESCC, a good team but an average team in the Chicago area.

The super-sectional experience from two years ago has to help the Rams. The seniors experience the March 2020 trip out to DeKalb for the Super-sectional against Riverdale. The Rams coaching staff expressed a quiet confidence despite what has to be seen as an underdog status.

Winnebago also has recent Super-sectional experience. The Indians advanced to the DeKalb Super-sectional in 2019 but fell to eventual state champ Marshall.

The Rams v. Indians game tips-off at Elgin High School at 7:00 p.m. tonight (Monday, February 28, 2022). Tickets are only available on-line from: https://gofan.co/app/events/534964?schoolId=IL15466.