As a three-year varsity player, Loyola senior guard Madison Kane was sad to see her career end with a 56-45 loss to Evanston in the semifinals of the Class 4A Niles West Sectional.
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Her coach is sad to see her go, too.
“She has really helped build this family,” Loyola coach Jeremy Schoenecker said. “We have 17 girls in this family and she has really been like that lead mom for us. She has done a phenomenal job.”
Kane and the fourth-seeded Ramblers (21-11) fought hard to come back from a 20-point deficit in the second half against the top-seeded Wildkits on Feb. 20. Loyola cut its deficit to nine points in the fourth quarter but got no closer.
Senior Clare Nelson led Loyola in scoring with 15 points, sophomore Julia Martinez had eight points and eight rebounds and junior Lilly Wehman pulled down 14 rebounds. Junior Erin Dillon scored nine points on three 3-pointers.
Kane and Nelson, who both started against the Wildkits, were two of Loyola’s seven seniors on this year’s team. Julia Neumeyer, Kasidy Caldwell, Leigh Kinsler, Franny Barnett and Mary Dooley will also be lost to graduation.
“Some of our seniors don’t get a whole lot of playing time but they stuck it out all year,” Schoenecker said. “What I’ll remember is their toughness. They hated to lose and be on the wrong end of the stick.
“These kids have battled all year. They just showed what they’re truly about. They’ll never stop fighting.”
Kane first learned about competing at the varsity level as a sophomore. She didn’t get a lot of playing time that year, but got her first lessons about Loyola basketball.
“There were so many seniors that took me under their wing and showed me the way the program works,” Kane said. “It was weird to be in those shoes this year because time flies. But our seniors this year focused on doing those same things for the underclassmen and hopefully they carry on the tradition.”
Starters Martinez, Wehman, and Dillon are slated to return next year having learned lessons from this year’s departing seniors.
“It’s about the aspect of team and always supporting each other, whether you’re playing or not,” Kane said. “Knowing your role on the team can be a hard thing to grasp sometimes, but they did a great job of it.
“Everyone was so supportive this year. We won and lost as a team. It was all about ‘team’ for us and playing at the varsity level has been truly something special.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press