Baylie Parks gets the wheels turning for Lake Zurich. Against Stevenson, she puts the pedal to the metal.

Baylie Parks’ role change dramatically before her senior season.

Parks had played heavy minutes at forward in her first three years. But Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett had an abundance of talented frontcourt players and a dearth of guards.

“At the beginning of the season, we were a kind of a point guard-less team,” Bennett said.

A McKendree recruit, Parks said she actually anticipated the shift from forward to lead guard late last season because Alayna Soukup, a four-year starting point guard, was set to graduate.

But Parks is still somewhat surprised, even this late in the season, at her rapid adjustment to the new position.

“In college, they’ve talked about how I’m going to play forward,” Parks said. “That’s also how I came into here in my freshman year. I didn’t have the ball in my hands a lot the last three years.”

The 6-foot Parks, who has the ball in her hands a lot these days, elevated her game to another level against Stevenson in the Class 4A Lake Zurich Regional championship game on Thursday. She scored a career-high 26 points and also had nine rebounds and three steals to lead the fourth-seeded Bears to a 66-43 victory over the fifth-seeded Patriots, the defending state champions.

Lake Zurich (25-7), which won two of their its games against North Suburban Conference rival Stevenson (21-12) this season, advances to play top-seeded Fremd in a Highland Park Sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday. One year ago, the Bears eliminated then-defending state champion Fremd in the same round.

Stevenson coach Ashley Graham praised Parks for taking over the game Thursday.

“Baylie is such a strong player defensively and offensively and is such a hard player to defend because she’s so long, physical, can hit the three and take you off the bounce,” Graham said. “She showed great composure and leadership out there.”

Freshman guard Layne Nordstrom scored 16 points for Lake Zurich, and sophomore guard Molly Friesen added 13 points. For Stevenson, junior forward Emory Klatt finished with 17 points, and sophomore guard Nisha Musunuri had 15 points.

Even with sophomore forward Avery Cooper out for the season, the Bears overpowered the Patriots from the opening tip, and Parks was at the forefront. She scored eight of her team’s first 16 points and had 14 in the first half to stake the Bears to a 34-15 lead.

Stevenson junior guard Kendall Williams, a defensive ace, hounded Parks throughout the game. But Parks brushed Williams aside with her ballhandling.

“It was a big adjustment I had to make to play point guard,” Parks said. “I played point guard over the summer and got used to having the ball in my hands and bringing the ball up the court this year. I had a lot of fun. I worked on my ballhandling a lot.

“I definitely say my teammates pushed me to get to this point and become a better ballhandler. This year has been a lot of fun and a great way to end my senior year — with a win on our home court.”

Lake Zurich senior forward Brooke Wahlund, also a fourth-year varsity starter, has watched Parks develop her game.

“I’ve played with Baylie since third grade,” Wahlund said. “Baylie has really stepped up this year after we lost Alayna. She has been doing an amazing job taking the ball up the court. We’re so proud of how far she has come.”

In a short sequence midway through the third quarter, Parks showed off her ability to make an impact on the court. She missed a 3-point shot but chased down the long rebound to extend the possession. A few seconds later, she weaved through traffic to score on a layup. On the next trip, Parks drove hard to her left and banked a 5-foot fadeaway to push Lake Zurich’s lead to 43-18.

Bennett said Parks, who missed several games with an ankle injury this season, will finish her career ranked 11th in scoring and third in rebounding in program history.

“Baylie has taken her game to a new level, in particular in the second half of the season,” Bennett said. “She can just score.”

Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.