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Sports

Patch Looks Back: Glory Days with Dani Ripkey

Deerfield's all-time leading scorer went on to take her three-point shooting skills to Carthage College.

Dani Ripkey recalls Barbie and American Girl but she was more interested in playing sports.

“I wasn’t a typical girl,’’ Ripkey said. “My dad (Chris) was a huge basketball fan so I’ve been playing it since I was a little girl.”

Fans of sports might recall the winter of 2008. By this time, Ripkey was known as a sharpshooting guard for the high school team. It was her final chance to make some noise in the annual statewide three-point shooting contest.

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And the noise she was making was the sound of swish. At the Mundelein Sectional that February, she missed one shot. That is she made 14 of 15 shots which on the face of it was amazing. At one point during the post-season contest, she made 25 of 30 shots.

“That was a dream come true,’’ she said.

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Nothing thrills a basketball fan more than someone who can fill up the hoop and Ripkey was one player who could do that. In her three-year run on the varsity team at Deerfield, Ripkey scored to the tune of 1,078 points, a school record. She averaged 15.5 points per game her senior year and was deadly with her shooting hitting 58 percent of her three-point attempts and 86 percent of the free throws.

She looks fondly back to her junior season at Deerfield.

“It was by far my favorite year,’’ Ripkey said. “We were successful and we spent all the time together. We would go to the movies together. We were all so close.”

Ripkey and the Warriors earned a strong fourth seed in the Rolling Meadows Sectional. After winning the Deerfield Regional, the Warriors fell 56-36 to top seed Buffalo Grove in the sectional.

“We got our butts kicked in that game,’’ Ripkey said.

By the end of her junior season, she began to look for a place to play college basketball.

Obviously Illinois State University was one choice.

“Everyone in the family went to Illinois State,’’ she said. “But I thought I might not be able to play there. My two cousins go to ISU but I thought it was too big for me.”

Instead, Carthage College in Kenosha began to look attractive.

“I wanted to play in college,’’ she said. “I loved basketball a lot. I loved Carthage and it was perfect for me.”

During her sophomore season at Carthage, that team reached the Sweet 16 in St. Louis.

“That was very good,’’ she said. “I ended up seventh in the nation in three-point shooting, I didn’t even know about that.”

Ripkey’s career 137 three-pointers ranks fourth in Carthage history. She ranks second in three-pointers in a season with 58.

Carthage coach Tim Bernero has watched Ripkey improve as a player the last three seasons.

"Dani has been great fun to coach,'' Bernero said. "She works extremely hard all the time trying to become a better basketball player. She has been a key part of Carthage teams that have amassed 59 wins in her first three seasons. Opponents are always concerned about where she is on the floor."

That sharp shooting touch didn't come by accident. She mixed it with boys early in her hoops career.

"I played Full Package for five or six years,'' she said.

Another thing she worked on was to become more assertive on the court.

"I heard early that I was really shy,'' Ripkey said. "By my senior year, I knew I just couldn't play hard, I had to be more vocal. I hated when teammates yelled at me so that was a struggle."

Ripkey has goals when basketball comes to a close. Bernero is glad he has one more year to watch her play.

"It's hard to believe she is a senior already,'' he said. "She's a quality basketball player, a very good student who comes from a wonderful family."

Ripkey, too, is aware her senior season is approaching.

“Basketball has been great,’’ she said. “Next year, I won’t have it anymore. I would love to be a Physical Education teacher and ultimately be a coach.”

Each Friday this month Patch will look back at one of Deerfield's greatest athletes. Stay tuned next week for our piece on Leslie Brenner who graduated from DHS and became a successful college hurler. 

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