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Sports

Past Meets Present at Lady Bengal Basketball Alumni Game

Oak Forest High School celebrates its basketball legacy as 2005 alum Cara Triezenberg hits the game-winner in Wednesday night's showdown.

Cara Triezenberg drove the ball to the hoop and put up the shot.

No, this wasn’t Triezenberg attempting a game-winner for the Oak Forest varsity girls basketball team in 2005.

It was the Oak Forest graduate trying to lead an alumni team to victory over  Oak Forest’s varsity team on Wednesday night.

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Triezenberg’s shot went in, and the alumni team defeated the varsity 54-53 in the school’s inaugural Lady Bengal Basketball Alumni Game.

The alumni team had over 20 players spanning several decades of graduation years. Tammy Shingler-Johnson was there representing the class of 1988, while 2011 graduates Colleen Emmett and Emily Missaggia played as well.  Oak Forest varsity coach Steve Schanz was excited for his players to play against some of the past greats.

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“It’s just a way to connect the community and the past to the present,” Schanz said. “I want some of my varsity girls to meet some of the legends that have played here before.”

All-time great coach and current Oak Forest athletic director Sue Bonner coached the alumni team. Bonner, who compiled a 250-126 record while coaching from 1987-2001, made an impact on many players.

“Sue means the world to me,” 1996 graduate Nora Hogueisson-Fink said. “She helped me through a lot of trials and tribulations. She’s the best coach ever.”

Hogueisson-Fink went on to play college basketball at Kankakee Community College and Lewis University.

For Triezenberg, the game-winner could serve as some trash-talk fodder with her sister Heidi, who will be a junior on next year’s varsity team.

Triezenberg recently earned her masters in social work from UIC and works at a treatment center for women with mental illnesses. She said she took away many life lessons from playing basketball at Oak Forest.

“What didn’t I take with me? Being on a sport, it shows you how to time-manage,” she said. “I think that helped out a lot in college. It also helps you with teamwork, cooperation and a lot of job skills that you need.”

Schanz is hoping the alumni game can be a recurring event.

“I hope so. This is the first one, and hopefully we continue to do it,” he said.

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