34 | sports
Goal-oriented
Bleck aims to maintain scoring ways for Lake Forest Scouts ■ by bob gosman
sports@northshoreweekend.com Talk about your high-powered under card. Prior to last year’s Illinois High School Hockey girls state championship game, Lake Forest High School’s Anna Bleck vividly remembers watching the Blackhawks practice. “It was so much fun,” she said. Then, the Scouts went out and defeated Fenwick 2-0 for the state championship. This season, the Scouts (12-6) are focused on getting back to the United Center and successfully defending their title. And Bleck is doing her part with a teamhigh 17 goals. She also has five assists and leads the Scouts with 22 points. “Bridget Roche scored a bunch of goals for us last year, and Anna has stepped into that role,” second-year coach Liz Zorn said. “Whenever we need a goal, we want her on the ice.” Bleck is a finisher. “She always finds the back of the net,” senior Caroline Knop said. “She’s really fast and she has the ability to (maneuver) around a lot of girls in the offensive zone. She’s a huge (contributor) to our team.” While Bleck is best known for her speed, Zorn said her toughness should not be overlooked. “She’ll beat people to the puck in the corner and fight to win every battle,” Zorn said. “She has really good hands and is not afraid to take on a challenge and be physical.” Bleck said that she’s always loved playing
17 for 17: Anna Bleck (No. 17) controls the puck during action against Evanston on Jan. 19. She has a scored a team-high 17 goals for the Lake Forest Scouts.
photography by joel lerner hockey. Her father played and so did her two older brothers, Matt and Cam. “I grew up going to the rink,” she said. She also grew up playing against boys before switching to a girls team in eighth grade. “The boys teams always moved the puck
around really well, and that got me to be more creative,” she said. “It also got me more physical, and I had to battle harder.” In hockey, Bleck has always played forward. In lacrosse, she is a defender. She said that has helped her look at hockey from a different perspective.
As a senior, Bleck has become a more vocal leader for the Scouts “She has more confidence in her skills and will put the team on her back,” Zorn said. Notable: The Scouts have benefited from the addition of freshman Corynn Salazar in goal. In 11 games, she has a 0.91 goals against average. “She brings a lot of energy and is just a strong all-around goaltender,” Zorn said. “She keeps us in games and plays her best in big games.” Salazar has missed some games this season because of conflicts with Team Illinois. The Scouts needed a reserve goaltender, and sophomore Lilly Bianchi volunteered for the role. “That’s helped tremendously with our goalie situation,” Bleck said. “There’s not many people who would volunteer to go in the net.” Salazar was in goal and had 10 saves Jan. 21 in a 6-5 victory over rival Lake Forest Academy. Bleck led a powerful Lake Forest attack with a hat trick. The Scouts amassed 60 shots on goal. Knop, sophomore Nina Wilson and senior Chandler Scoco also scored. Scoco also had two assists. Wilson, junior Mary Claire Newton, freshman Kyra Mangasarian and junior Willa DeBoom each contributed one assist. Lake Forest Academy had defeated Lake Forest earlier in the season. “The biggest difference was that we finished more of our chances,” Zorn said. ■
Morette emerging as a player to watch ■ by kevin reiterman
sports@northshoreweekend.com Matt Morette loves it, when play on the court turns crazy and chaotic. Bring on the mayhem. Bring on the disorder. Morette performs best in a mess. “I like the scramble situations,” admitted the North Shore Country Day combo guard. That certainly held true in NSCD’s 70-62 loss to visiting Morgan Park Academy on Jan. 21. The 6-foot-2, 150-pound Morette was at his finest during a topsy-turvy, free-for-all fourth quarter, when he scored 11 of his game-high 22 points. Morette’s clutch play helped the Raiders trim an 18-point deficit to 65-60, with 37 seconds left to play. During one span — 1 minute, 26 seconds — Morette erupted for seven points. “We needed that,” said Morette, “especially after we went four minutes without scoring in the second quarter.” The sophomore was highly involved at both ends of the court. In the final eight minutes, he had one block, two steals, two rebounds and one assist. “Matt has the potential to be a very good player,” said NSCD coach Rashid Smith. “He’s especially good in transition.” Heading into the 2013-14 campaign, the Raiders’ head coach knew he had something in Morette, who is averaging a team-best 14.5 points per game after leading the sophomore team in scoring last year. Morette is tough to guard. He can nail the three-pointer — he had two against Morgan
Park — or he can slash to the basket. “I like one-on-one situations,” he said. “Break my man down and take it the basket.” Morette, who finished with 11 rebounds and four assists against Morgan Park, is proving that he could do a little of everything on the court. Which includes accepting a challenge. With the graduation of three-year point guard Jamie Swimmer, who is now playing at Connecticut College, Smith needed someone to play point guard. He picked two. Senior Cameron Chung and Morette share the duty. “I took them out of their natural positions,” said Smith. “Cam had never played the point before. He inherited the position, and he’s responded well to it.” The same goes for Morette. “He’s a de facto point guard,” said Smith, who also coaches Morette in club ball at RMG. Morette, who tallied a career high 26 points in a win over Chicago Academy on December 17, is adjusting to the transition. “I’ve been a two (shooting guard) and three (small forward) all my life,” he said. “My mentality is to score. But I’m learning to work the ball around. Find an open wing. Or get the ball to one of our bigs.” Notable: Smith counts heavily on senior forward/center Ian Meyer. He’s a three-year varsity player who plays with a lot of energy. In the game against Morgan Park, he had 10 rebounds to go with six points, two assists and two steals. “He plays with a lot of intensity,” said Smith. … The Raiders (2-8) also start junior Sam Kayser and senior Andrew Case. Kayser pumped in 17 points against Morgan Park.. ■
MM good: North Shore Country Day sophomore guard Matt Morette attracts a double team during the team’s contest against Morgan Park Academy.
photography by george pfoertner