Jefferson Girls Basketball Team Stays Undefeated in Conference, Heads to Championship Game

past 8th grade girls basketball teams have won conference championships before. Sometimes with 14-1 conference records, 13-2 records and 12-3 records.

But no team in the school's history had finished the regular season with a perfect conference record. Until now.

The Jefferson girls basketball team finished regular season play undefeated (15-0) in conference and with a 25-1 record overall.

The only game the 2010-2011 team lost was at a tournament before conference play started. The Lady Wolverines came second in the Downers Grove Mayor's Goodwill Basketball Classic but took first in both the Naperville Trojan Classic and the 34th Annual Westmont Rotary Junior High Basketball Tournament.

The team has one game left to play -- the conference championship Friday night. Jefferson will play Lakeview Jr. High at home.

To get to the championship game, Jefferson had to win two more playoff games, bringing the team's conference record to 17-0.

More remarkable is that Jefferson hasn't just won games this season -- they've won games by considerable margins. 

On Wednesday, Jefferson started with a 3-0 lead that lengthened into 11-1 by the end of the first quarter. By the half, Jefferson led 17-5. By the end of the third, Jefferson was leading 24-7. Jefferson beat Burr Ridge 32-8 Wednesday night.

Coach Dreama Mensavage-Mueller said her team just "blends well."

"They're very close," she said. "They're a big group of friends. They have a very supportive parent group."

The girls have played basketball before, in camps and traveling leagues and with the Woodridge Park District.

"They're all very dedicated," Mensavage-Mueller said. "They're all good students -- A and B students. They're very coachable kids...There's no drama. The kids on the bench get to play a lot because the starters are so successful. Nobody is jealous of another."

All of the players on the team are eighth graders, except for seventh-grader Jaida Green, who made some big plays in Wednesday's game.

Mensavage-Mueller said Jefferson is familiar with whoever their Friday night opponent turns out to be -- they have already played (and beaten) each.

Conference record: (including the two playoff games) 17-0

Overall record: 25-1

Roster: Jenny Adams, Maggie Considine, Vashae Easley, Kacey Ford, Jaida Green, Marisa Johansen, Jami Haasl, Stephanie Henderson, Brianna Love, Alexis Martinez, Mary Meyers, Donna Montilla, Megan Ramsden, Anne Rock and Allie Sheetz

Wednesday's notable players: "Anne Rock, Megan Ramsden and Allie Sheetz on defense, Jaida Green with some big plays throughout the game and I thought Jenny Adams handled the ball well," Mensavage-Mueller said.

Jefferson's conference: Jefferson plays in the Southeast DuPage Elementary Athletic Association, which includes Burr Ridge Middle School (Burr Ridge), Butler Jr. High (Oak Brook), Cass Jr. High (Darien), Eisenhower Jr. High (Darien), Gower Middle School (Burr Ridge), Lakeview Jr. High (Downers Grove), Lisle Jr. High (Lisle), Old Quarry (Lemont), Westmont Jr. High (Westmont) and Westview Hills Middle School (Clarendon Hills).