Maddie Yacobozzi doesn’t get mad about college. She just gets even for Lincoln-Way East. ‘I love the sport.’

This winter is the last basketball go-round for Lincoln-Way East’s Maddie Yacobozzi.

The 5-foot-10 senior forward has been playing basketball since fifth grade, and she also runs cross country and competes in track as a rare three-sport athlete for the Griffins.

But Yacobozzi has decided she’s not going to play basketball in college. That’s too bad because some program will be missing out on a well conditioned, tough-as-nails player.

“It was a really hard decision, one I made a few years ago,” Yacobozzi said. “I stopped playing travel. I love the sport, but this is my last season.”

That being said, how hard will these next few weeks be?

“Oh my gosh … on our senior night, I’m going to be bawling,” Yacobozzi said. “I love basketball. These are all my best friends, so it’s definitely going to be sad.

“I definitely don’t want to lose basketball. I want to keep playing — just not for a team.”

Yacobozzi continues to prove she has what it would take to play at the next level, including Thursday night’s performance in a 65-31 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over Sandburg.

She scored 15 points — with 10 in the first half — and added three offensive rebounds, four assists and two steals for Lincoln-Way East (17-3, 2-2). She was complemented by 10 points and five rebounds from senior center Hayven Smith, the Illinois recruit.

Sandburg (11-8, 1-3) got a great game from sophomore guard Olivia Trunk, who scored 14 points, all in the first half. That featured a pair of 3-pointers that kept the game close in the second quarter.

However, the night belonged to Yacobozzi.

“She’s super athletic, and she’s developed into a really good basketball player,” Lincoln-Way East coach Jim Nair said. “She’s really strong at attacking the basket, and her outside shot is coming together this year.”

Absolutely true. As a result, the Griffins started with a 12-5 spurt.

Yacobozzi did her damage with a layup off a missed jumper, and when Sandburg turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, there was Yacobozzi with another layup.

“We ask Maddie to do a ton,” Nair said. “She’s the point of all our presses and she’s usually the opposite post to relieve some pressure for Hayven.”

Yacobozzi started playing basketball for the Lincoln Way Xplosion, mostly because her brother was playing travel at the same time and she decided to give it a try.

That was a good move because she met up with several of her current teammates who became her best friends, including senior guards Lana Kerley, Lilly Dockemeyer and Makayla Kelly, who is Yacobozzi’s partner up top when Nair runs a 2-3 zone.

Often, they communicate without speaking.

“Our teamwork is so good,” said Kelly, a St. Xavier recruit. “We talk so well because we’ve been doing it for so long.”

Yacobozzi said cross country and track are a big help to her from the standpoint of conditioning, but also the mental aspect.

She seemingly kept her arms up the entire game Thursday. That, and her speed to the ball, led to a host of traps at midcourt.

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Nair said being a three-sport athlete is a big advantage for Yacobozzi, and by extension, the Griffins.

“We love multisport players, and she comes in great shape,” Nair said. “She was the last one to come off the floor because she handles the ball for us and gets us into our offense.

“She’s also very active on the defensive end.”

What’s next for Yacobozzi then? She hasn’t made her decision on college yet, although she would like to study psychology.

But even if this is the end of playing basketball for her doesn’t mean she isn’t committed to leading her team.

“Even when someone makes a mistake,” she said, “we can learn to laugh about it and move on.”

Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.