Sarver Steps Down From Grayslake North Girls Basketball

A few years back no one would have ever predicted that the Grayslake North Knights would win 21 games in a season.

And now following clearly the best season ever in North history, the only girls basketball head coach in the school's history is stepping down. Coach Jim Sarver will not be coming back to coach the likes of Jordyn Bowen, Joanna Guhl and promising guard Kendall Detweiler.

It doesn't sound personal. He's two years from retirement.

"The job was never tough,'' Sarver said. "We had a great season. It's just time to sit back and watch."

In his six years at the helm, there were plenty of losses to report. His six-year run produced a 64-108 mark. But finally things started to come together in his final campaign.

To seemingly no one's surprise, the Knights dropped their first three games of the season. But this team had a senior guard named Katie McGrath and the Knights suddenly got really hot.

On Nov. 17 of 2011, Highland Park handled North 64-49. The Knights did not lose another game that year. That was a 13-game winning streak that ended at the hands of rival Grayslake Central on Jan. 10 of 2012.

The Knights earned a berth in the St. Viator Sectional and upset the home-standing Lions. The season concluded with the third loss in a row to Central.

Is Sarver riding off into the sunset?

"I've been coaching for 20 years,'' he said. "I will keep volleyball only since I have two years until I retire."