It's been a long five years since that quarterfinal run in Class AA in 2005-06....
]]>The school did get slapped a little harder than some of it's self-imposed sanctions that were announced following an in-house probe last fall but we can't imagine it having any
negative impact on this year's lone recruit (to date), Ryan Boatright of East Aurora.
Here's a link to the Hartford Courant story detailing the NCAA ruling: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/02/22/1880476/ncaa-suspends-uconns-calhoun-for.html
]]>Rochelle drew the top seed and opens Tuesday, March 1st against the winner of the Feb. 28th game between No. 4 Sycamore and 5 IMSA.
The other Beacon News coverage area schools in 3A will play at the Yorkville Regional.
It opens Feb. 28th with No. 4 Sandwich playing 5 Ottawa to advance to a March 1st game with No. 1 Streator. On March 2nd, No. 2 Yorkville and No. 3 Morris meet for the fourth time. They played at the Plano Christmas Tournament and meet twice in conference play.
At West Aurora:
No. 2 Downers Grove South is the top seed with the No. 7 host Blackhawks next in line.
Coach Gordie Kerkman's club will open play against the winner of DVC rivals Wheaton South and West Chicago. Wheaton South, seeded 10th, has beaten West in the two teams' only conference meeting this season. DG South will meet the winner of 15 Batavia and 18 Glenbard North.
At Bolingbrook:
Jeffries' No. 4 Tomcats are the top seed here and open against the winner of a game between 13 Plainfield North and 20 Downers Grove North. Fifth seeded Neuqua Valley will take on the winner of 12 Metea Valley vs. 22 Bolingbrook.
At Naperville North:
No. 16 Plainfield East and 17 Geneva meet with the winner drawing top seed Benet Academy. That winner will face the winner of a matchup between No. 8 Oswego and the host Huskies (9) for the title.
At Glenbard East:
Second seeded hosts are the favorites here and DuPage Valley leaders will draw the winner of a game between fellow DVC rivals Wheaton North (14) and Naperville Central (19). The other finalist will come from a matchup between 11th seed Oswego East and 21 Glenbard West.
The East-West basketball game Saturday is officially a sellout, according to a press release issued by East High officials. The gym features 3,500 seats.
The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. but will more likely start at about 8 since the school will have its Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony between the sophomore and varsity contests that same night.
Anyone who didn't score a ticket, will have several opportunities to watch it live on television or the internet. Check the schools' websites or Saturday's Beacon News.
]]>The 20-1 Norsemen recently won the Little Ten Conference Tournament and are ranked second in the state in the AP Class 1A poll.
Coach Rick Tollefson's team doesn't open play until Thursday's 6 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Monday's matchup between Little Ten rivals Leland-Earlville (4) and Somonauk (5).
On Tuesday, (2) Ottawa Marquette meets (7) Serena at 6 p.m. with (3) H-BR playing (6) Mooseheart at 8:30. The winners of those two games will meet at 8:10 p.m. Thursday in the other semifinal. Title game is Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Indian Creek, the area's lone remaining 1A team, has drawn the top seed at the Amboy Regional and will play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Monday's game between fellow Little Ten rivals (4) LaMoille and (5) Paw Paw. Host Amboy has the No. 2 seed and will meet the winner of Monday's game between (3) Ashton-Franklin Center and (6) Hiawath in Wednesday's second semifinal at 8:10 p.m.
Those winners meet for the title at 7:30 p.m.
]]>Aurora Christian, which hosts a 2A sectional that feeds into the Joliet Central Super-sectional (Joliet Central?), will play in the Lisle Regional. Coach Steve Hanson's Eagles open Wednesday at 8:10 p.m. against No. 2 seed Collins Academy of Chicago. Westmont is the top seed in the regional, which will be decided with Wednesday's winners meeting on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Aurora Christian Sectional will be played the following Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Plano hosts its own regional which feeds into the Genoa-Kingston Sectional, whose winner advances to the DeKalb Super-sectional at NIU.
Coach Brett Moore's Reapers also play on Wednesday at 8:10 p.m., against No. 2 seed Genoa-Kingston. That game will be preceded by No. 1 Westminster Christian against he winner of Tuesday's game between No. 4 Mendoat and No. 5 St. Edward. Title game is Friday at 7:30 p.m.
]]>Such was the case when we checked out a blog post from University of Connecticut men's basketball beat writer Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant. He recently talked with coach Jim Calhoun about that one-game suspension served by East Aurora's Ryan Boatright earlier this week and reported on the Huskie recruit:
...Calhoun didn't offer many details on the incident other than to say he had spoken to Jeffries and is not concerned. The incident that led to the suspension is said to have followed a frustrating, upset loss to Metea Valley last Saturday.
"He's a really talkative, out-going kid -- smile, personality, all that," Calhoun said. "But somethimes with that, maybe the coach sometimes doesn't want to hear your answer. Maybe he wants to hear nothing. I don't know all the circumstances. I've talked to the coach. I really like Ryan. I'm more concerned that he continues to work hard on his grades. He's been admitted, but he has to (qualify) when it's all said and done."
Calhoun then described Boatright, comparing him to a player on his current roster:
"Shabazz (Napier) with almost more zip. It's hard to think of that."
Napier is a 6-foot, 170-pound freshman guard out of Charlestown (Mass.) High School who has come off the bench in all 19 UConn games this season. He's averaged 23.6 minutes, 8.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
]]>Considering the East Aurora boys basketball team is riding a three-game losing streak heading into tonight's matchup with North Chicago at the Ernie Kivisto Tomcat Hoopsfest, the announcement by athletic director Cam Leadbetter that he's added a game with Brooks to his team's schedule could be received with mixed views by Tomcat fans.
East will play host to the team from Chicago's south side on Saturday, Feb. 5th at 7:30 p.m. Leadbetter has been trying to pick up a game for coach Wendell Jeffries' team for several weeks now and had hoped to land either Curie or Brooks. East had an opening on its schedule after its participation in another shootout fell through earlier in the season.
Brooks, which won the Waubonsie Valley Matt Laurich Memorial Christmas Tournament, currently stands at 14-3 and is ranked No. 15 by the Sun-Times. The Eagles recently dropped an 11-point decision to No. 1 Simeon in Chicago Public League Red-South play.
But this week, Brooks claimed a 54-51 win over St. Ignatius, which features 6-foot-10 Illinois-bound center Nnanna Egwu (18 points, 7 blocks). In that game, Brooks 6-6 forward Keith Gray matched the big man, scoring 22 points and pulling down nine rebounds. He has a twin brother, Kevin, who is also a force inside. East fans will also likely hear plenty from senior guard Michael Powell that night.
The Saturday varsity contest will be preceded by a freshman game at 4:30 and sophomore game at 6 p.m.
Coach Kevin Schnable could have been doing a good Jim Rome imitation when he answered afterward: "Elliot was phenomenal. In the first half, with or without the ball, he controlled things. The first 16 minutes, he controlled our team. Shot selection, execution. He showed the way and clearly is developing into our quarterback."
The 6-foot-2 sophomore scored 20 points in the first half, making seven of 11 shots from the floor. He finished with 26 points on nine of 13 shooting. That's 69 percent. Even more remarkable considering eight of them came from beyond the 3-point arc, where he made five.
He also had six rebounds.
Schnable was right on. Phenomenal.
And how good are the young Panthers, who start four sophomores? A one-game lead in the conference race at the halfway mark says they're pretty darn good, especially when you consider their lone loss to Minooka, came when they played without junior starter Ryan West.
I didn't know the SPC coaches did a preseason vote, but I'm told they do and Schnable's team was picked to finish seventh this year. Don't imagine they'll make that mistake next year or the year after.
The 6-4 Krieger, who averages about 25 points-per-game, suffered the injury in last Friday's 74-70 loss to Plainfield Central and did not play in Tuesday's 51-38 loss to Minooka. Both were Southwest Prairie Conference games.
Oswego East plays host to Plainfield North this Friday. League leader Oswego meets the Tigers on Feb. 11th. Krieger may be back for that game.
Geneva seniors Sammy Scofield and Kat Yelle are also being considered for the girls game.
The event, featuring a girls and boys doubleheader at the United Center on March 30th, will be televised on ESPN. Nearly 2,000 players, nationwide, are being considered for the teams.
Boatright, the University of Connecticut recruit and two-time Beacon-News Player of the Year, leads area scorers with a 31.4 average. Anderson, a University of Delaware recruit, headlines a Newark team that has made it to the Class 1A super-sectional each of the past two seasons.
McDonald's will name the final roster of 24 boys and 24 girls during the 2011 selection show on ESPNU on Feb. 10th at 4:30 p.m.
Billy Taylor, head coach at Ball State University, brings his 8-4 Cardinals to DeKalb for a 3 p.m. game at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center. It's the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
Later that evening, Tyler Thompson and his Quincy University teammates take on Lewis University in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game in Romeoville. Tip-off is a 7:30 p.m.
The Hawks are 9-3 and 2-2 in the league and Thompson, a junior forward, is second on the team in scoring and its leading rebounder.
According to a report by Mark Lazerus for our sister paper, the Post-Tribune, in northwest Indiana:
At 6-1, 155 pounds -- and at age 18, still young enough to be a high school senior -- Harris has been physically overmatched at times playing against full-grown men. But he's been getting more and more confident with every game.
"He's learning the physicality of the game," Drew said. "It's hard for all freshmen -- the game is faster, it's more physical. And freshmen have that adjustment period, like Jay has. But we've seen a great deal of improvement over the last three or four weeks with him, and he's getting stronger. He's getting better and better and he's got a good basketball IQ, so we hope that he continues to improve."