New Trier’s strong season could reverberate for years

HOFFMAN ESTATES — Teri Rodgers said the 2013-14 season could influence her New Trier girls basketball program for the foreseeable future.

Rodgers coached the Trevians to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2009. The Trevians captured the CSL South championship and regional and sectional championships before losing 60-43 Monday to Rolling Meadows in the Class 4A Hoffman Estates supersectional.

“This was really good for our program, and I think this will carry us for a while,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers said this team grew more than any group in her 16 seasons. The coach said the players focused on the finer details of the game.

“They really embraced the last couple of months,” Rodgers said. “They lived in the moment, and they cherished it. They didn’t fear failure, and they went out with no regrets.”

Guard Isabella Bosco said the Trevians, who won their first 19 games and finished 27-4, used the metaphor of climbing a mountain for this season.

“One step at a time,” she said. “You can’t look up the mountain, or you will fall down. We didn’t think about the long run, and that was a big key for our team.”

Bosco and guard Alexa Czyzynski were four-year varsity players. The other seniors on the 20-player roster were guard Julie Ball, guard Meg Neuhaus, forward Grace Gahlon and forward Kristen Stiffler.

Bosco said the program is in good hands. Players like junior guard Jackie Welch, junior forward Rachel West, sophomore center Jeannie Boehm and sophomore forward Kathryn Pedi all are in line to return.

“We couldn’t ask for a better group to turn it over to,” Bosco said. “I am so confident they will go far next season.”