TARA’S TURN
It’s not the way she planned. It’s not how she expected. But wearing a mask, Gugliuzza ready to lead for Lincoln-Way West.
Tara Gugliuzza had so much to be happy about on Monday.
After 11 of the longest months a frustrated high school athlete could possibly endure, she was back on the basketball court in a Lincoln-Way West uniform.
“I didn’t expect my senior season to be like this, but I’m just excited to be able to play,” Gugliuzza said. “It was so nice to be back with everybody again.”
She was happy for her little sister, Ava, who scored 28 points in the 80-40 SouthWest Suburban Red victory over host Andrew.
“It’s nice having her be the point guard, looking out for good shooters and taking shots herself,” Gugliuzza said of Ava. “She did really well.”
Tara also gave a shoutout to junior Allie Wondrasek, who hit five 3-pointers.
“I told her she was going to be really good (Monday),” Gugliuzza said. “She was making all of her threes.”
Spoken like a true teammate — and leader.
Tara did her share with 15 points. Trust me, she’ll be scoring more than that on most nights.
As much as seeing the Warriors dominate in Monday’s game looked mighty familiar, there were some missing faces from the team that finished second in the state last season in Class 4A.
Brianna Wooldridge, who transferred to Lincoln-Way West as a sophomore and was a major contributor under the basket, went back to Fremd.
Steady point guard Sydney Swanberg is off to a two-sport college career in cross country and women’s basketball at Carthage.
Oh, yeah. There’s one more. Taylor Gugliuzza, the 2019-20 Daily Southtown Girls Basketball Player of the Year, is a freshman at Lewis. Already, she and Mother McAuley standout Jenna Badali are doing magical things in the backcourt for the Flyers.
It was really fun on Jan. 5 to see a video of Taylor putting in a buzzer-beater for Lewis in an 87-85 win over Missouri-St. Louis.
“She was celebrating with the team, so I didn’t get to talk that much to her after the game, but she was really excited,” Tara said. “Obviously, that’s a great feeling, especially being a freshman in college.”
Tara will have that opportunity next fall at Lewis. This season will bring a chance to take over the leadership role at West that belonged to her sister.
“It’s definitely different,” Tara said. “I’ve played with Taylor my whole life. I’ve played with Ava a lot, too, but me and Taylor have been playing together since second grade.”
If Tara played in her sister’s shadow, it wasn’t with a timid attitude.
“We’ve always been different kind of players,” Tara said. “She was the point guard and I was always the off guard. Taylor was older than me, so obviously she was going to be the leader, the one to look up to. I was OK with that.
“With Taylor not here, this will be my year being the oldest and leading the team. I think it’ll be fine.”
Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan White has no doubt about that. He — as well as we — had an opportunity last season to see some of Tara’s leadership abilities.
“We had four kids who at any moment could lead us,” White said. “And if you’re one of those kids, I don’t know if you’re in anyone’s shadow.
“Tara has always been kind of a sneaky, under-the-radar contributor. There would be nights where you looked at the score book and said, ‘Oh, Tara had 20 tonight.’ She would just consistently plow through a game.”
Tara averaged 12 points and 5.5 rebounds with 73 3-pointers. She scored 14 points in the state semifinals against Bolingbrook and 16 points in the title game against Fremd.
Taylor Gugliuzza was a record-setter for the Warriors, but her sister isn’t far behind.
“She’s on pace to be our second all-time leading scorer,” White said. “I think she’s on pace to be above 1,500 points. And then there is her 3-point shooting.
“The numbers that Taylor put up were just crazy. But when all is said and done, Tara will have a pretty remarkable career here herself.”
With no state playoffs, it’s too bad that Tara Gugliuzza won’t have a complete senior season.
It’ll still be enjoyable, though, to watch her make the most of it.