March 1, 2001
All-Time Class AA All-Tournament Team
(Selected By News Media)
| Player, School | Ht. | All-Tournament Teams |
G | Pts. | Avg. | Reb. | Avg. |
| Cathy Boswell, Joliet (West) | 5-9 | 77-78 | 4 | 83 | 20.1 | 38 | 9.5 |
| Tauja Catchings, Lincolnshire (Stevenson) | 6-0 | 95-96 | 6 | 110 | 18.3 | 54 | 9.0 |
| Katie Coleman, Lincolnshire (Stevenson) | 6-0 | 95-96 | 6 | 110 | 18.3 | 58 | 9.7 |
| Pam Gant, Joliet (East) | 5-8 | 80-81 | 4 | 109 | 27.2 | 14 | 3.5 |
| Olga Gvozdenovic, Wilmette (Loyola) | 6-2 | 97-98 | 7 | 165 | 23.6 | 40 | 5.7 |
| Janet Harris, Chicago (Marshall) | 6-3 | 80-81 | 8 | 124 | 15.5 | 96 | 12.0 |
| Jackie Joyner, East St. Louis (Lincoln) | 5-10 | 79-80 | 6 | 106 | 17.6 | 46 | 7.6 |
| Nora Lewis, Peoria (Richwoods) | 6-0 | 83-84-85 | 9 | 236 | 26.2 | 95 | 10.5 |
| Tammy VanOppen, Bartonville (Limestone) | 6-1 | 92 | 5 | 83 | 16.6 | 43 | 8.6 |
| Kourtney Walton, Chicago (Marshall) | 5-11 | 98-99 | 10 | 177 | 17.7 | 73 | 7.3 |
The Class AA all-time all-tournament team celebrating the first 25 years of girls basketball has been selected in a poll of statewide news media. Results of the poll were announced Thursday (March 1) at the State Farm March Madness Celebration Banquet in the Bone Student Center on the campus of Illinois State University.
The 10-member team includes two players from perennial powerhouse Chicago (Marshall) and two from Lincolnshire (Stevenson). Of the ten, only Nora Lewis of Peoria (Richwoods) earned all-tournament honors three years, and only sharp-shooting Tammy VanOppen of Bartonville (Limestone) was a single-year selection.
Over the years Chicago (Marshall) has had seven players earn all-tournament honors twice. Named from that group to the all-time Class AA all-tournament team are 6-3 Janet Harris (1980-81) and 5-11 Kourtney Walton (1998-99). Other two-time Class AA selections were Marie Christian (1982-83), Latonia Foster (1988-89), Kim Williams (1992-93), Kim McQuarter (1984-85) and Sabrina Harris (1990-91). Janet Harris was an absolute force in the middle for the Commandos. In eight state final games she scored 124 points (15.5) average and grabbed 96 rebounds (12.0 average). Her career rebound total is No. 2 all-time and her 45 rebounds in 1980 is the fourth-best all-time for a single tournament. The slender Kourtney Walton scored 177 points in 10 state final games and pulled down 73 rebounds. Walton’s point total is the greatest for a Marshall player. Fourteen of her 62 career field goals were three-pointers. Her .941 free throw shooting percentage in 1997 (16 of 17) is the Class AA single-tournament record.
Making the all-time team from Stevenson were Tauja Catchings (1995-96) and Katie Coleman (l995-96). Stevenson won back-to-back titles those years and rolled to a combined won-loss record of 67-3.
In six state final games Catchings scored 110 points (18.3 average) and grabbed 54 rebounds (9.0 average). In six state final games, Coleman scored 110 points (18.3 average) and had 58 rebounds (9.7). Both players were dominant on the floor and under the basket. They are tied for No. 23 in the all-time career scoring. Coleman holds the Class AA title game record for rebounds with 18 in 1996 against Elgin (H.S.).
Cathy Boswell (1977-78) from Joliet (West) played in only four Class AA state final games, but she averaged 20.1 points per game and 9.5 rebounds. She is the only player purely from the single-class years to make the all-time team. Another who played one year in the single-class system and then in Class AA on the dominating East St. Louis (Lincoln) teams is Jackie Joyner (1979-80). The 5-10 Joyner averaged 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds in six state final games.
Nora Lewis (1983-84-85) is the second all-time tournament career scorer, and tops in Class AA. She poured in 236 points in nine state final games, averaging 26.2 points per game. On the boards, Lewis pulled down the Class AA record of 95 career rebounds, an average of 10.5 per game. Her scoring average is the Class AA record as are her 97 field goals, 42 free throws made and 63 attempted.
Limestone’s VanOppen was the first to light up the scoreboard from the three-point line. The 6-1 gunner scored 83 points in five state final games, including 13 three-pointers. She also averaged 8.6 rebounds a game. She hit 12 of 19 three-pointers in the 1992 tournament, sharing the Class AA single-tournament record. She was devastating in her 1992 semifinal game against LaGrange (Lyons), hitting 7 of 9. The written play-by-play of that game remains one of the most colorful in IHSA Girls Basketball history. VanOppen holds the all-time career three-point percentage at .591 (13 of 22).
Pam Gant (1980-81) of Joliet (East) was a superb guard and had the best scoring average of those who made the all-time team. In four games she scored 109 points, a 27.2 average. Olga Gvozdenovic (1997-98) of Wilmette (Loyola) was a 6-2 speedster in the middle for the Ramblers. Not only did she dominate inside on defense, she averaged 23.6 points in seven state final games. Her 33 field goals in 1997 ties Nora Lewis for the Class AA single-tournament record. She grabbed 40 rebounds, averaging 5.7 per game.
The first girls state final tournament was played in 1977. The state series was conducted in a single-class format its first three years. The two-class system began in 1980. Players in the three single-class state finals were considered for the Class AA all-time all-tournament team.