In the beginning, there was a little girl and a basketball.
Grace Carstensen was just 4 years old when her father, Curt, bought her a half-sized ball.
“We were living in Connecticut, and we went to a gym,” Curt Carstensen said. “That natural stroke was there. Obviously, strength was an issue, but she had her little ball, and she got it up there.
“Some of my friends were there, and they did a double take, like, ‘Whoa, she’s shooting it like she’s a 12-year-old.'”
Fourteen years later and 900 miles west, Grace Carstensen is still shooting, only with a regulation ball and even greater efficiency.
Nazareth’s 6-foot senior guard developed into one of the best 3-point shooters in the state. On Saturday, the DePaul recruit helped shoot the Roadrunners to their first state title.
Grace Carstensen contributed 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, as well as a game-high five steals, three rebounds and three assists as Nazareth beat previously undefeated Lincoln 63-52 in the Class 3A state championship game at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
“It means everything,” she said. “All the work that I’ve put in and the team has put in collectively over the years, we’ve been playing with each other forever. To finish off strong means the world to me.”
The Roadrunners (35-1), who set a program record for victories and went undefeated against in-state competition, had been preparing for their historic triumph ever since losing to Carmel 43-39 in the 2022 state championship game.
Grace Carstensen called that defeat the most devastating of her career, one that fueled her fire and set the stage for Saturday. But the seeds of that success were sown years ago, during hundreds of practice sessions with her father and older sisters Abby and Sarah.
Grace Carstensen didn’t realize it at the time, of course, but Curt Carstensen, who played basketball at Wisconsin-Platteville, knew she was going places after that first trip to the gym.
“To be a really good shooter, you not only have to put in the work, but you have to be lucky enough to have some kind of God-given ability,” Curt Carstensen said. “I always saw the stroke there.
“My buddies still talk about that. I talked to one friend when Grace committed to DePaul, and he said, ‘You remember that?’ He’s like, ‘I knew right then she was going to be a Division I basketball player.'”
Putting in the work
Grace Carstensen doesn’t remember the first time she picked up a basketball. But she has fond memories of childhood games with her father and sisters.
“My sisters are two years and four years older,” she said. “I’ve always followed them around, did whatever they did, and they grew up playing too.”
The training started in earnest when Grace Carstensen was in fourth grade, but she didn’t get really serious about it until she joined her middle school team in sixth grade. Not every day was a fun one.
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“There were a lot of days I forced her to go to the gym and shoot,” Curt Carstensen said. “We fought a lot, but when you’re 10, 11, 12 years old, maybe you don’t want to go to the gym all the time and work on your craft.
“But I knew the time would come when she would be glad she did it. I just did not want her to ever regret not putting in the work. We had our ups and downs together, but it was good fun and good love.”
Indeed, Grace Carstensen frequently mentions her father in interviews, stressing how influential and helpful he has been in her development. She cherishes the time she gets to spend with him.
“It’s really special having a parent that cares that much about me and doing extra work,” she said. “He’d sneak away from work early just so he can come rebound for me before a big game, which is always fun.
“I started working out with him at his gym, too, doing CrossFit. We do all our workouts together.”
Grace Carstensen also played soccer when she was in elementary school but didn’t love the sport the way she loves basketball.
“I was like, ‘OK, when am I getting back to play basketball?'” she said. “Also, playing with my sisters was always super fun. We would play two-on-two with my dad. Stuff like that was so fun for me. It is a family that has always been around basketball.”
Her sisters both played basketball at Timothy Christian. She originally intended to follow suit but found a different type of family at Nazareth under coach Eddie Stritzel.
“I played for Eddie in eighth grade, and I just loved him as a person and as a coach,” she said. “I wanted to play for him, and my parents supported me.”
At Nazareth, Grace Carstensen found a welcoming environment. Stritzel was reloading after his daughter Annie led the Roadrunners to second place in 2018 and third place in 2019.
“Annie got the program off the ground, and what it did was make Nazareth a possibility (for young players),” Stritzel said. “Grace wanted to play right away, and I told her, ‘You’re going to come in and play right away.'”
Indeed, Grace Carstensen started from the get-go, helping the Roadrunners finish 21-13 when she was a freshman. They went 8-4 during her sophomore season, which was delayed and abbreviated due to the coronavirus pandemic, before going 33-3 last season.
“Her improvement was impressive,” Stritzel said. “Freshman year she was just a standstill shooter, wouldn’t move off the line, but the progression over the years and just the work she puts in has been impressive.
“Every coach says this about their kids, but Grace works. She’s had a skills trainer, a ball trainer, physical trainer, and her dad, Curt, takes such pride in that.”
So does Grace Carstensen.
“Looking back now, I feel like I was so little and scrawny as a freshman,” she said. “I’ve just worked out every day getting stronger.”
Reaping the rewards
Grace Carstensen is more versatile too.
Still best known for her long-distance shooting, she became a well-rounded star this season, when she averaged a team-high 11.8 points, was second on the team with 82 total assists and was third with 121 total rebounds. She was voted Associated Press Class 3A first-team all-state and was named Class 3A second-team all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.
Forward Olivia Austin, who led Nazareth with 23 points and 12 rebounds in the championship game, is one of four junior starters who have played with Grace Carstensen for three seasons.
“A lot of people say that Grace is just a shooter, but she’s so much more than that,” Austin said. “She’s improved her game so much this season and over the summer.
“She’s … I don’t even want to say triple threat. I’d say a quadruple threat.”
Grace Carstensen proved that Saturday with an impressive combination of shooting, passing, defending and vocal leadership. That last aspect may be the most underrated.
“Grace really turned into a great captain this year,” junior point guard Mary Bridget Wilson said. “During the whole game she was telling us to calm down. It was a big stage, but she just kept telling us to calm down, and she really knows how to build our confidence.
“She’s always telling us to shoot the ball when we have open looks. She’s not selfish at all. That’s what I really like about her.”
Grace Carstensen did a little of everything against Lincoln, which led 11-10 until she assisted junior forward Danni Scully’s go-ahead basket. She followed that with a steal that set up junior guard Amalia Dray’s 3-pointer. Then she hit a pair of 3-pointers of her own as the Roadrunners built a 31-25 halftime lead.
Grace Carstensen spent the warmup before the third quarter draining threes like they were layups. Stritzel, whose team blew a fourth-quarter lead to Peoria Richwoods in the 2018 state final, took notice.
“I told the girls at halftime, ‘Let’s extend this, be smart and stay aggressive,'” Stritzel said. “And Grace hit a three to get us up nine.”
That 3-pointer to open the third quarter opened the floodgates for Nazareth, which went on an 18-4 run to extend the lead to 49-29. The Roadrunners’ balanced offense was noteworthy as they barely missed putting all five starters in double figures. Wilson scored 11 points, Dray had 10 and Scully added eight.
All of them helped accomplish an even greater feat — containing Lincoln star Kloe Froebe, who entered the state finals averaging 28.0 points and had 45 points and 15 rebounds in a 76-56 win against Deerfield in the semifinals.
Froebe scored only four baskets against Nazareth and was held to 19 points.
“We call our defense ‘lemon,’ so we were just screaming to squeeze her all the time — so basically just to get the ball out of the main girl’s hands,” Scully said. “The other players could score too. But I felt that was a big part of the game.”
Stritzel, whose teams are known for playing tough defense, said the Roadrunners were especially exceptional in that regard this season.
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“We’ve taken on all comers, and it was an amazing defensive effort,” Stritzel said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better defensive team than we’ve been all year.”
Grace Carstensen played a big role on defense. Lincoln had a chance to cut the lead to single digits when she made a steal and fed Austin for a transition layup and a 53-39 cushion midway through the fourth quarter.
“Me getting steals I feel like is just an output of what the other girls are doing because they always speed other kids up,” Grace Carstensen said. “They’re getting tipped passes, which makes it easier for me a lot of the time. It was nice to get the ball back, throw it up and let Olivia finish the play.”
Stritzel said that play sealed the deal, although Grace Carstensen wasn’t done. She assisted Scully for a layup at the 2:50 mark to make it 55-42. Lincoln didn’t get closer than 10 after that.
When it was over, Grace Carstensen was the first Nazareth player to hold the championship trophy. She gazed at it in awe and then lifted it up in the air.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “Being on the opposite side last year, it doesn’t even feel real at the moment when it’s happening. It was so overwhelming but just such an amazing moment.”
Not just for her but for the entire team.
“I’m so proud of her,” Stritzel said. “It’s like a dream ending for her, and I’m so thrilled for her and all the kids.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.