Streamwood’s Ayumi Ishikawa has started to take the strides that first-year coach Sam Kruel was hoping to see from his sophomore point guard.
After leading scorer Brianna Coffey exited Monday night’s game against Jacobs, Ishikawa had to take yet another step forward.
“For this last month, she’s been on a tear,” Kruel said of Ishikawa. “She’s really matured in the second half of the season. To take over a game like this, she played outstanding.”
Ishikawa scored a team-high 17 points, including nine in the fourth quarter with Coffey out of the game, to help lead the Sabres to a 58-52 nonconference victory.
Ishikawa added six steals and five assists for Streamwood (18-6). Casie Cruz, Angelina Sagadraca and Ronaja Stewart scored 11 points apiece. Coffey also had 11 rebounds.
Sophomore center Olivia Schuster led all scorers with 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Jacobs (7-14). Mikayla Weel added 11 points for the Golden Eagles.
It may seem like Ishikawa is having a breakout season, but she was hoping for this progression.
“I did a lot of offseason work, so I expected to have a great season,” she said. “It feels good. I’ve just been having big point games. It’s been harder since I’m younger, but I feel like I should be a better leader. That’s really important.”
Kruel has watched her blossom in front of his eyes. Ishikawa has five 20-point games — including a career-high 28 points against Larkin — since the calendar flipped to 2025.
“This is a big part of her growth,” Kruel said. “This year, we put her into more of a leadership role and she’s been growing. When we’ve needed her, there were a couple games where ‘Bri’ wasn’t having a good game and she just took over the fourth quarter.
“She’s the type that comes into the gym and says, ‘Teach me how to do this.’ It’s those types of players that you love as a coach. You want to see them get better.”
Coffey, who scored her 1,000th career point in the first quarter, exited with 2:25 left in the third quarter of a tight game. Kruel let his team regroup without giving them a speech.
“I think they all just figured it out,” Kruel said. “They huddled up on the court. I hope she’s going to be OK. Ayumi and the whole team stepped up.”
Up only 41-38 early in the fourth quarter, Ishikawa scored seven straight points as Streamwood stretched the lead to 50-43 with 3:25 left.
Two layups from Schuster brought Jacobs within 50-47, but that’s the closest the Golden Eagles got the rest of the game.
“Having someone that can handle the ball, not turn the ball over and can move the ball, she was very active on offense and defense,” Jacobs coach Jonny Reibel said of Ishikawa. “She just made some fast-break layups, got some steals on us and passed the ball well.
“She just really executed down the stretch, as a point guard should. She’s been a great point guard all year, so we knew it was going to be tough with her handling the ball.”
Kruel was happy with how his team handled an adverse situation with Coffey, who averages 15 points, on the bench.
“We haven’t had to deal with that this year,” Kruel said. “They stepped up big time. People were playing spots that they’re not used to playing. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Ishikawa credited Kruel for helping fuel Streamwood’s turnaround. The Sabres, who are 11-1 in their last 12 games, already have more wins than the program produced in the past 12 seasons.
Streamwood won only two regional championships in that span.
“It feels good,” Ishikawa said. “It’s just teamwork, ball movement and communication.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter of The Beacon-News.
