1. The granddaddy of all girls basketball shootouts celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend when teams including Benet, Joliet Catholic, Fremd and Montini converge at Willowbrook for the McDonald’s Shootout Chicagoland Girls Prep Classic. The first shootout was held on January 11, 1991, at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern. Maine West and St. Ignatius are the only teams to play in all 25 events and Maine West’s Derril Kipp is the only coach to participate in every event. They will play each other for the first time in the event on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
2. Some of the more highly anticipated matchups at the 25th annual McDonald’s Shootout include New Trier vs. Champaign St. Thomas More at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Prospect vs. Geneva at 8 p.m. Saturday, Brooks vs. Montini at 5 p.m. Monday, Benet vs. Fremd at 6:30 p.m. Monday and Joliet Catholic vs. Trinity at 8 p.m. Monday at 8 p.m. Mother McAuley, which won the Class 2A title in 1991 after appearing in the shootout, will be honored before its game with Kokomo (Ind.) at 5 p.m. Saturday.
3. University of Alabama-Birmingham recruit Deanna Kuzmanic of Wheeling moved into second place on the Wildcats’ all-time scoring list Thursday when she scored 18 points in a 52-37 victory over Lake Zurich. Kuzmanic added 13 points in a 43-28 win over Elk Grove on Saturday and now has 1,515 points for her career, second only to Ashley Wilson (1,916 points) in school history. Kuzmanic is the third sister to play at Wheeling, following Stephanie (Carthage) and Kellie (Cornell, Iowa).
