Kristin Heidloff had been here before.
The Fenwick guard had walked into Illinois State’s Redbird Arena as a freshman in 2001 with eyes as wide as a pair of Chicago potholes. She had depended then on seniors such as Claudette Towers and Sarah Kwasinski to show her the route to survival in the pressure cooker known as the Class AA state basketball finals.
Those players helped Heidloff not only survive but prosper. She scored 12 points and committed nary a turnover as Fenwick routed Neuqua Valley 65-32 in the title game to win its first state girls basketball title.
Now it was her turn. The 5-foot-6-inch senior was back with a team so young you didn’t know whether to hand some of its players a scouting report or coloring books. In a quarterfinal matchup Friday against Jacobs, Heidloff was the lone senior in a Fenwick starting lineup that included two freshmen–forward Alison Jackson and center Samantha Woods–and sophomore forward Maggie Kloak.
Three other freshmen are members of coach Dave Power’s regular playing rotation. Guard Traci Pawlak is his only other senior.
This clearly is a team in need of a traffic cop, if not a babysitter, and Heidloff, with help from junior guard Brittanny Johnson, performs that role nicely. Against Jacobs, she had 18 points, three assists, six steals and no turnovers in just 21 minutes in Fenwick’s 77-26 romp. Afterward, she made sure her teammates left the center chair open for Power in the interview room.
“I had six great seniors my freshman year,” said Heidloff, who has signed a basketball letter of intent with Georgetown. “They taught me a lot about what it takes to be part of Fenwick basketball and how special it is to be part of it. They kind of guided me every step of the way.
“Now with only two of us, and Brittanny, we all had to take on leadership roles, answer questions, make sure they’re not nervous before a big game like this.”
Heidloff has been a leader waiting to happen since her freshman year, but she had to wait her turn. Last year’s state runner-up team, for instance, had four senior starters, including the sensational Erin Lawless.
“She always had great leadership qualities,” Power said of Heidloff. “This year she has been able to let it all come out.
“I know a leader won’t always be the most popular, but she’ll tell them what they need to hear. She has done a great job.”
This has all been a lab experiment of sorts for Heidloff, who wants to study sports psychology in college and pursue that as a career if her primary goal of coaching college basketball doesn’t work out.
“I’ve always been interested in what makes an athlete struggle mentally and why some athletes always perform well under pressure,” she said. “It would be fun to work with a whole team.”
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With a 4.7 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, Heidloff can handle psychology or about any other subject. The Illinois High School Association selected her Thursday to its 26-member All-State Academic Team, which recognizes exceptional senior student-athletes.
“She’s a great thinker,” Power said. “She’s just so gifted in so many areas she can be anything she wants to be.”
Those gifts extend to tennis and track and field, in which Heidloff has been talented enough to reach the state finals in both.
“I need to be busy,” she said.
Power marvels at how Heidloff can do so much, do it so well and make it look so easy while working so hard. That includes her ability to take over a game despite her modest height.
“She just seems to have that incredible will to win,” Power said. “Every girl who plays basketball, especially those 5-8 and under, can watch her and say, `I can play this game.’
“I’ve never seen her take a play off. She uses every ounce of her talent and energy every time she’s on the floor.
“I’ll really miss her. Hopefully, she can do a little more while she’s here.”
To accomplish that, Fenwick (33-3) will have to get past New Trier in a Saturday semifinal. New Trier has given the Friars two of their losses, but Heidloff, showing her knack for leadership and psychology, is trying to find an edge in defeat.
“We definitely feel we have an advantage if we play them because they are supposed to win,” she said. “We have nothing to lose.
“We would look forward to a rematch. We would definitely not be intimidated.”