UPDATE: Sandburg's Rachel Ruzevich is Patch MVP

Sandburg's Rachel Ruzevich outpolled seven others in voting for Southland Patch's MVP, Dec. 17-23. She is now eligible for Patch Athlete of the Month honors.

Your Patch is a place to celebrate local high school athletes. Show your support for these prep sports MVPs—each of whom is Athlete of the Week in his or her local Patch—by cheering them on in the comments thread, sharing your own photos with the Patch community and voting in the poll. Do you think we're missing someone? Tell us in the comments and share his or her photo to the gallery above. (It's easy. Just click the Upload Photos and Videos link — learn more here.) Read more about this week's MVPs in the photo gallery, and show your support for them by: There is one more way for you to become a more interactive fan: Sign up to become a Patch sports blogger. (Learn more about blogging on Patch here).

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Joe

7:30 am on Saturday, December 29, 2012

Ron, did you know Rachel is the first Sandburg basketball player to receive a full college basketball scholarship in over 5 years. Rachel signed her letter of intent to play at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. Rachel will be playing for Coach Cari Lohr.   more ›

Girls Basketball: Fourth-Quarter Surge Lifts Marist Past Marian Catholic

Randyll Butler and Claire Ryan stepped up their game as Marist rallied to overtake Marian Catholic 63-49 in a Class 4A sectional girls basketball game Monday at Sandburg.

Marist Remains No. 1 in Girls Basketball Heading into Regional Finals

Top-ranked Marist had no trouble in the opening round of postseason play. Lincoln-Way East, Homewood-Flossmoor, Marian Catholic and Lincoln-Way North also advanced to regional finals.

1. Marist (29-1): Nothing to it. Marist opened postseason play with a name-that-score kind of victory, rolling past Thornton 80-27. Next up: The RedHawks will face Thornton Fractional North at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Class 4A Marist Regional final. 2. Lincoln-Way East (24-4): Caitlin McMahon (21 points, 7 rebounds) and Taylor Johnson (16 points, 7 steals) powered the Griffins to a 70-24 regional semifinal victory over Crete-Monee. Next up: Lincoln-Way East faces district rival Lincoln-Way North in the Class 4A Lincoln-Way Central regional final at 7:30 tonight. 3. Homewood-Flossmoor (21-7): Charnelle Reed’s knee injury raises questions of whether the Vikings will get out of the Class 4A Stagg Regional. H-F defeated Thornton Fractional …

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1 Mission: Top-Rated Marist Enters Postseason Play With an Eye on the Prize

Marist concludes regular-season play atop the weekly Patch Power Rankings for girls basketball. Lincoln-Way East, Homewood-Flossmoor, Stagg and Marian Catholic build momentum for IHSA playoffs, too.

1. Marist (28-1): How ready are the RedHawks for postseason play? They went into Wednesday night’s game vs. Fenwick with a 378-161 scoring edge over their East Suburban Catholic Conference rivals. Four Marist players ranked in the top 15 in conference scoring—JeTaun Rouse (4th), Leah Bolton (9th), Asiana Bey (14th) and Claire Ryan (15th). 2. Lincoln-Way East (23-3): Taylor Johnson and Caitlin McMahon were up to their old tricks in a 52-35 victory over Lockport. Johnson scored 23 points. McMahon added 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Griffins conclude the regular season with a game at Bolingbrook Thursday. 3. Homewood-Flossmoor (19-7): Danielle Woolfork scored 17 points in a 57-29 victory over Lincoln-Way Central. Amena Brent chipped in with …

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Marist Handles Marian in Girls Basketball Rivalry Game

In what Marist coach Mary Pat Connoly called an 'odd' game, the RedHawks finished strong to seal their 47-43 victory over Marian Catholic on Monday night.

When the Marist RedHawks and the Marian Catholic Spartans take the court in girls basketball, it's a good bet you can throw the records out. The rivalry between the two squads is always fierce. On Monday in Chicago Heights, the two teams dueled to the final buzzer. At the end, though, it was Marist's low-post presence that sealed the game for a 47-43 RedHawks victory. “We're glad we won; we survived,” Marist coach Mary Pat Connolly said. “We're big conference rivals, we're big South Side rivals, so it's going to be an 'odd' game. The whole game is going to be odd because of the rivalry. If it was somebody else, the game would've ran smoother … They gave us a good run.” As for the RedHawks effort in the low post, it came as no surprise to …

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Girls Basketball: Marist Builds Lead, Then Hangs on Against Marian

Marist 47, Marian Catholic 43: Low post presence, scoring push RedHawks past Spartans in Chicago Heights.

The Skinny: Marist's team height was the story of the game for the RedHawks, who came into their girls basketball game with Marian Catholic on Monday night ready for battle. The post presence of the RedHawks powered the team, as nearly every timely rebound found its way into a RedHawks' hands. Marian kept the game close in their home gym with an uptempo style, but Marist's post dominance proved to be too much in its 47-43 victory. Patch’s MVP: Marist's Asianna Bey finished with nine points in the victory, but more importantly held Marian's Megan Walsh, who was averaging 20 points, to 14. Bey was dominant in the paint. Key Stats: Aside from outrebounding the Spartans, Marist also got to the free throw line more than three times as much as …

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UPDATE: And the Winner in Patch Athlete of the Week Voting is ...

Marian Catholic junior forward Megan Walsh put up big numbers for the Spartans in the Chi-Town Showdown. And she put up big numbers in Patch Athlete of the Week voting, too.

Megan Walsh outpolled five others in voting for Patch Athlete of the Week, Dec. 4-10. Walsh is now eligible for December Patch Athlete of the Month recognition. The candidates were: Jubril Adekoya, junior, forward, boys basketball, Andrew. Adekoya scored 20 points and hauled down 13 rebounds in the T-Bolts’ 81-51 victory over Stagg. Brooke Annerino, sophomore, guard, girls basketball, Oak Lawn. Annerino was pretty in pink in the Spartans’ 67-59 victory over Oak Forest on Pink Out Night. She scored 20 points and helped promote Oak Lawn’s breast cancer awareness fundraising efforts. Colin Holler, junior, wrestling, Sandburg. Holler won the 152-pound championship in the Wildcat Invitational at Wheeling. He scored a fall and two major …

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L-W East Stakes a Claim to No. 1 in Girls Basketball

Griffins race to 4-0 start, return to jump to prepare for start of Southwest Suburban Blue Conference girls basketball play. Marist and Marian Catholic riding hot on their heels in Patch Power Rankings.

1. Lincoln-Way East (4-0): After strong start, Griffins return to gym during layoff to iron out a few wrinkles. Oh, what’s that? Coach Jim Martin can’t find any wrinkles? Trust me, he’ll keep looking. 2. Marist (6-0): Leah Bolton, JeTaun Rouse and RedHawks serve notice with early victories over Homewood-Flossmoor and Rich Central. 3. Marian Catholic (3-1): Despite heavy graduation losses, the Spartans look to be in the thick of it again. Would you expect any less from coach Annie Byrne? 4. Homewood-Flossmoor (5-2): Thirteen was the Vikings’ lucky number in a 49-33 victory over Bloom Township. Lauren Parker scored 13 points. Amena Brent grabbed 13 rebounds. 5. Rich Central (7-2): Rockets rocket to fast start behind the play of Chaz Duson, …

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Girls Basketball: Marian Catholic Rides Play of Sophomores Past Mother McAuley

Ashton Millender and Dajhae Mullins power Spartans in tip-off classic at Maine West.