Gaters recipient of the Morgan Wootten Award For Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball

Congrats to Dorothy Gaters, (Chicago) Marshall girls basketball coach for receiving such a tremendous honor.

Gaters is actually familiar with my Dad, who is a retired K-8 basketball coach from Delano. Also, my mother attended Marshall High School and remembers way back when Gaters was relatively new to the school (and I believe before she became the varsity head coach ... but I haven't verified that with Mom just yet).

Marshall is the IHSA Class 3A defending state champions from 2007 and defeated Freeport in the state championship game, 58-47. As stated in the Chicago Sun-Times' Yourseason.com, Gaters has won eight state championships and has entered into the state tournament finals 23 times in her illustrious career.

Gaters has more than 900 wins in her 30-year career.

One emotional Senior Night coming up Friday

Kelsey Hoefer is just four points away from scoring her 1,000th point, which would make her the 10th Freeport girls basketball player to do so in program history, and the fourth senior on the team this season.

Auburn is no pushover, judging from its last game in which the Pretzels won, 56-37. But considering it's Senior Night -- the same night all four players likely will become the first four-group senior class to each score 1,000 career points and the last time Hoefer, Courtney Shiffer, Suporia Dickens and Katie Norman will play at home in their high school careers -- I'd expect the team to do very well Friday.

There's so much here. Feb. 6 will be one of the more memorable games those four will experience.