MSL Basketball: 50th Girls Title Game Spotlights Coaching Success
Hersey's Fendley, Fremd's Yates Among League's Elite; Barrington's Barreiro Becomes Fourth to Win 500 at an MSL School
Mid-Suburban League girls basketball is in the spotlight Wednesday night with its 50th annual championship game when Hersey hosts Fremd. So it’s a perfect time to highlight seven of the league’s greatest coaches who have passed the 300-win mark.
Two are on stage tonight in Hersey’s Mary Fendley and Fremd’s Dave Yates. Barrington’s Babbi Barreiro hit a major milestone Tuesday night with her 500th victory in an MSL crossover at Prospect. The information is compiled from Daily Herald and IHSA records.
NOTE: Information has been updated prior to the 2023-24 season.
Tom Dineen (Buffalo Grove) - 678
The Barrington graduate came in and went out at Buffalo Grove with state trophies and in between won a Class AA state title in 2000 as he finished 678-229 in 29 years. The state title team had no big star but went 34-4 and beat Chicago Washington in OT with Daily Herald all-area picks Allison Guth, currently in her first year as Loyola University’s head coach, Lindsey Hamma, Piper Mead and Kendra Ryl and all-tourney pick Patty Vermiglio.
Dineen’s first team at BG in 1979-80 took fourth and his last in 2007-08 went 33-4 and took third. He had four 30-win seasons and 21 20-win seasons, won 25 regional and 11 sectional titles and made nine Elite Eight trips. Only twice did his teams finish below .500.
After he retired at BG, Dineen went a few miles north to Stevenson and went 132-48 in six seasons where he won at least 20 games each time and got two regional titles. He went 26-5 in his final year and his 810 career wins ranks fifth in IHSA history behind Dorothy Gaters (Marshall), Dave Power (Fenwick, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Proviso West), Evan Massey (Galesburg) and John Gross (Peoria Richwoods, Bartonville Limestone, Princeville).
Carol Plodzien (Fremd) - 558
One of the sport’s pioneers got off to an incredible start by winning her first 50 games at Fremd and finishing in third place in the inaugural girls state tournament in 1977 with IBCA Hall of Famers Connie Bruns and Donelda Danz. Her total of 558 wins with the Vikings would be higher but limited schedules saw only 5 games played in her first year and 42 games in her first four seasons.
Plodzien’s teams were a lock in MSL title games as they never lost in 12 appearances. She won 16 regional and 5 sectional titles in her 34 seasons and also made the Elite Eight in 1990. She was head coach for a year at Richmond-Burton.
Plodzien was also instrumental in expanded TV coverage for the girls tournament and fought to bring back the Elite Eight format after a shortsighted 1982 IHSA experiment moved the quarterfinals to high school sites as “semi-state” games. She received the 2022 Herrins Award from the IBCA for her contributions to the sport.
Mary Fendley (Hersey) - 537
Fendley and assistant coach Julia Barthel departed together following the 2022-23 season after an amazing quarter-century where Hersey won 71 percent of its games. The Huskies gave them a great sendoff with their second Class 4A fourth-place finish in the state and Fendley’s teams won four MSL, nine MSL East and 13 regional titles. They were unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 4A during the COVID-shortened 2021 season behind Mary Kate Fahey.
Fendley had only one losing season but two years later in 2010 the Huskies were at ISU’s Redbird Arena and finishing fourth in Class 4A with career scoring leader Megan Rogowski. Fendley was a three-sport athlete at Rolling Meadows and she always promoted multi-sport participation. Daily Herald girls sports guru John Leusch had an excellent profile on the success of the Fendley-Barthel partnership.
Babbi Barreiro (Barrington) - 504
Barreiro became the fourth girls coach and fifth basketball coach to win 500 games at an MSL school (Conant boys coach Tom McCormack won 550) during the 2022-23 season with a 70-64 win at Prospect. The Elk Grove three-sport standout played for 2023 IBCA Hall of Fame inductee Marcia Krysh and was a Daily Herald all-area softball player for 1,000-game winner Ken Grams.
Barreiro took over at Barrington in 1993 and won 20 games and regional titles in her first two seasons. The 20-win season total is now at 12 with this year’s 26-8 group and she has won 12 regional and 3 sectional titles. Her 1999-2000 team won a sectional title and then last year was the best season in program history as Purdue recruit Sophie Swanson led the way to a school-record 30 wins and second-place finish in the state in Class 4A. Again, John Leusch with a great job capturing the milestone.
Dave Yates (Fremd) - 397
Yates has continued the tradition of success started by Carol Plodzien and won his eighth MSL title and the school’s 20th in 2023. Yates has won 76 percent of his games with 12 20-win and three 30-win seasons.
His 2020 team led by Daily Herald All-Area picks Emily Klaczek, Olivia Hill and Grace LaBarge went 30-7 and won the program’s first state title in Class 4A. Yates also had 4A state runner-up finishes in 2015 with Haley Gorecki and in 2016 with Bryana Hopkins. He has won 12 MSL West and 9 regional titles.
Joe Breault (Schaumburg) - 378
Breault was Schaumburg’s first boys coach from 1971-78 and then started a 24-year run as the girls head coach in 1979. His first girls team went 19-3 and won MSL and regional titles with Daily Herald co-captain Kim Wallner. Breault claimed 5 regional titles and his fourth 20-win season was a finale of 21-11 in 2002-03, which was a school record for wins at the time and still ranks third.
Breault totaled 437 total wins as a Schaumburg head basketball coach with 59 on the boys side. He earned the program’s first 20-win season in 1975-76 and first regional title in 1978.
Marcia Krysh (Elk Grove) - 367
Another of the highly influential figures in the early days of girls sports who will finally get a much-deserved induction into the IBCA Hall of Fame in May. Krysh coached 24 years and her win total likely would have been above 400 if not for limited schedules of only 25 total games in her first three seasons.
But it didn’t take Krysh long to establish the program at Elk Grove as 4 consecutive titles culminated in a sectional title in 1980 and a Class AA state title in 1981. Her state champions led by Daily Herald All-Area captain Faith Mimnaugh and all-area picks Kathy Leyden, Beth Sass and Robin Cormier finished 31-1. Krysh won 7 regional and 6 MSL South titles and had six 20-win seasons when she retired in 1997.