By Bobby Narang
The Batavia High School girls basketball team returns one of the tallest and best players in the State this season.
At 6-5, Tessa Towers embodies her last name. She’s tall, strong, and committed to being an outstanding player. The University of Wisconsin recruit averaged 17.1 points and 12.3 rebounds in her junior season.
Towers’ return is one of the reasons behind the Bulldogs’ expectation to be in a battle for the DuKane Conference championship this season after finishing 5-11 overall in the Spring.
Sophomore point guard Brooke Carlson, who averaged 14.5 points and 3.6 assists last season, is a returning starter, and Nicole McLaughlin, Claire Nazos, and Kylee Gehrt, are slated to be key contributors.
“The Bulldogs are looking to rebound from a sub.-.500 year last season,” Batavia head coach Kevin Jensen said.
“There’s a great mix of experienced seniors and talented youth. Batavia will get varsity contributions from all four classes this season. Tessa Towers leads the way and she continues to get better and better. Brooke Carlson is as dynamic as they come with the ball in her hands.”
Towers is one of the leading players to earn Ms Basketball of Illinois, especially following the graduation of Naperville North’s Greta Kampschroeder. The 2020-21 Gatorade Illinois Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Kampschroeder, averaged 17.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.9 steals to earn a McDonald’s All-America selection last year. Her graduation leaves a big hole in the DuPage Valley Conference.
• Meanwhile, in other Batavia hoops news, Batavia graduate Liza Fruendt is fully active in her first full season on the University of Tennessee’s coaching staff.
After playing four seasons at Missouri State University, Fruendt is serving as the director of recruiting operations on the UT staff.
Fruendt scored a program record 1,921 points at Batavia.