Not that there was ever any doubt, but Neuqua Valley definitely looks ready for the postseason.
By now, it's used to games like this. The Wildcats dismantled Larkin on Friday night in Naperville, cruising to a 90-55 victory that gave them the Upstate Eight Conference championship outright. That makes it two UEC titles in a row, and four in the last five years.
Against an overmatched Larkin team (7-19, 1-9) on senior night, 11 Wildcats scored, again showing balance with seven finishing between nine and 13 points. They forced 12 first-half turnovers that helped key a 32-14 run through the second quarter.
Forward Dwayne Evans led the way with 13 points and nine rebounds, while forward Derek Raridon added 11. Guard Steve Waeghe and center Kareem Amedu each finished with 10. Chris Sutter, Ryan Wagner and Rahjan Muhammad each had nine.
Neuqua (27-1, 9-1) has now won 19 consecutive games and is the top seed in the Oswego East Sectional, which begins Monday. It awaits the winner of the Naperville North-Benet opening-round game. Legal pads in hand, both schools were out scouting at Neuqua on Friday night.
Naperville North's postseason roster is taking shape. Coach Mark Lindo confirmed Friday that senior guard Danny Grimley - who was sidelined with a foot injury but returned for the regular-season finale - will be ready for Monday's night's opening-round playoff game against Benet. Matt LaCosse and Jovonn Griffin, promoted from the sophomore team, will also be available for the Huskies (12-14, 5-9 DuPage Valley Conference). Junior forward Arnas Gintautas is still out with a shoulder injury.
After helping Benet to a third-place league finish, junior Nikki Bell and senior Annie Doyle were recently named to the all-East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Bell and Doyle led the Redwings in scoring as they finished 7-3 in conference, behind ESCC-champion Fenwick and Marian Catholic. Benet went on to win its first regional title since 2006 before falling to Bolingbrook in Monday's sectional semifinals.
Benet sophomore point guard Dave Sobolewski exploded for a school-record 41 points in a 77 78-73 upset victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night in Lisle. That's another reminder of how valuable Sobolewski is heading into the postseason and an opening-round game against Naperville North.
When the Redwings lost to North 65-33 in December, he was sidelined with a torn MCL. North has reshuffled its rotation as well, and should have a size advantage underneath, but both teams rely heavily on underclassmen. Think of Monday night's game as a preview for the 2009-10 season.
Naperville North is generating some momentum, riding a five-game winning streak into the postseason. Joe McNicholas scored 19 points to lead the Huskies to a 63-54 victory over West Chicago on Wednesday night in Naperville
James O'Shaughnessy finished with 12 points while Matt LaCosse added 11. No. 16 North (12-13) faces No. 17 Benet on Monday at the Batavia Regional. The winner faces Neuqua Valley (26-1), the top seed in the Oswego East Sectional.
Monday marked the exit of Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas, who is stepping down to take over the Metea Valley program next winter. Kalivas left on a bittersweet note, having watched the Warriors fall -- again -- to Hinsdale Central after winning their third consecutive regional title.
"I think reality is starting to sink in," said Kalivas, who went 122-49 in seven season with Waubonsie. "I don't think I really thought about it up until this point. It's nice to go out having won a regional championship. And I had such a great group of kids to work with this year that I couldn't have asked for anything more."
Meanwhile, Benet coach Peter Paul confirmed that he plans to return for a 25th season on the Redwings bench. Paul cited his enjoyment of this season for his reason for wanting to come back.
The Redwings finished 19-12 after falling to Bolingbrook in the sectional semifinals Monday night. They won a regional title for the first time since 2006 and finished third in the always-tough East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Paul earned career win No. 500 earlier this season, which sparked speculation he would retire.
While Monday's loss spelled the end for Benet's five seniors -- Annie Doyle, Annie Gallagher, Colleen O'Shea, Mary Schuessler and Jess Pavlinec -- the Redwings return some talented players for next season.
Among those are junior Nikki Bell and sophomore Danielle Canulli, who often came off the bench to spark the Redwings. Canulli did that in the regional final, scoring a team-high 12 points in an upset of Batavia.
Canulli credited the seniors for helping her improve as the season progressed.
"They taught us to play together," Canulli said. "It was tough at the beginning of the year, but by now we all came together. They always pushed us on defense and it was good because we learned to push back. That prepared us for games mentally."
Also returning for the Redwings will be starters Brianne Riley and Ashley Veselik, as well as freshman Gintare Sankauskaite and sophomore Katie Ernsting.
In this Sunday column we looked at March Madness and the four-class tournament. It's difficult to find someone who has embraced the concept and is enthusiastic about what it has done to the brackets and the downstate experience.
"I think most coaches do not like it," Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. "It really doesn't affect us (because) we're gonna be 4A regardless but the multiplier kind of skews everything. ... If we didn't have the multiplier, it might be different. With the multiplier, all the big private schools are gonna be 4A."
To be sure, the IHSA has a difficult and thankless job, and there are several geographic and economic issues to consider. But teams that are on a state level - in any sport - want to compete against the best. It's hard to see how that happens with talent diluted across four classes.
In the second year of this format, what are your thoughts? How would you fix March Madness?
The baseline for Dwayne Evans is set with mid-major programs from the Mid-American Conference and Horizon League. But Northwestern has also looked at the Neuqua Valley forward, and his stock only figures to rise over the next several months. In this Sun-Times News Group piece, Scott Powers breaks down Evans' well-rounded game.
Recruiting projections are still just guesswork, as quarterback Dan LeFevour has shown at Central Michigan. As part of an interesting series, the Sun-Times shines the spotlight on Benet, with an essay from LeFevour and all sorts of trivia about the Redwings.
It doesn't take much to understand what the Benet girls basketball team needs in order to win. The Redwings need big games out of their three key players -- junior Nikki Bell, and seniors Annie Doyle and Jess Pavlinec -- and then for one of their support players to add something to the mix.
That's exactly what happened Thursday night in the Redwings' come-from-behind 49-46 victory over Batavia in the Hinsdale South Regional final.
Bell hit the game-winning free throws with 20.7 seconds left and finished with eight points. Doyle and Pavlinec each scored 11 points, while Pavlinec added 10 rebounds. And sophomore Danielle Canulli came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points, including a 3-pointer that banked in during Benet's fourth-quarter rally.
"We feel that Jess, Annie and Nikki are the cornerstone of our team," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "When they come to play, we've got an opportunity to win."
Pavlinec came up big in the final minutes of the first half, helping key an 8-2 stretch that cut a 12-point deficit to 27-21. She scored back-to-back baskets on offensive rebounds.
"I just decided that we weren't hitting our outside shots and I knew I could get the offensive rebounds," said Pavlinec, who finished with six offensive rebounds. "They weren't boxing me out that much and I could just grab the ball. I just jumped and put the ball back in."
Paul won his 14th regional title in 24 seasons, but first since 2006. The Redwings had won 10 in a row before that.
There's no doubt Benet missed its 6-foot-8-inch center and one of its lead guards on Tuesday night at Wheaton North. Combined Joe Meyerhoff and Phil Hayes account for about 23 points per game. Benet's motion offense is predicated upon Meyerhoff's ability to pass out of the post to open 3-point shooters or cutters through the lane.
After a 72-64 loss that was still a one-possession game in the final minute, Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said Meyerhoff is day-to-day with an illness, but the hope is he will return for Friday's senior night game against Marian Catholic in Lisle.
Hayes meanwhile was in street clothes keeping stats and nursing what was called a foot fracture on Tuesday night. That must have been frustrating on two levels. The Redwings (10-13) saw its three-game winning streak snapped against a Wheaton North program (7-15) that's nearing the end of a down year. And it's another tough break for Hayes, who tore his ACL last year and missed half the season as well as summer ball.
"Phil - the earliest would be at the end of next week if everything went well and that's 50/50, (a) best-case scenario that he would be back this year," Heidkamp said. "If not, it's season-ending. (We're) disappointed because we were finally starting to play pretty well."
Joaquin Phoenix wowed us all with his Andy Kaufman act, hip-hop dreams and ability to mumble and chew gum at the same time while crushing it on "Late Show with David Letterman." That's a good run, but which one of these area teams had the Best Week Ever?
-Neuqua Valley (25-1) wins its 17th consecutive game, blows out Geneva and Lake Park by a combined 36 points, earns the No. 1 seed in the Oswego East Sectional and finds out East Aurora is unraveling. The Wildcats, who are ranked 10th by the Chicago Sun-Times, are now atop the Upstate Eight Conference alongside St. Charles North. Both teams have one loss, while East Aurora has two after weekend losses to Bartlett and Waubonsie Valley.
-Naperville Central (21-2, 11-0) clinched at least a share of its second-straight DuPage Valley Conference championship with a with a 69-55 victory over Glenbard North on Friday night in Carol Stream. The Redhawks also learned they will be a No. 2 seed in the Oswego East Sectional and moved up to No. 20 in the Sun-Times poll.
-Waubonsie Valley (12-11) may have turned its entire season around with weekend victories over Dundee-Crown and East Aurora. The Warriors climbed above the .500 mark and Beacon News hoops guru Rick Armstrong thinks a regional title is a possibility.
-Benet beats Nazareth - the program first-year Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp used to run - by 23 points on Friday night and then follows it up a day later with a 61-47 rivalry game win over St. Francis at Benedictine. Now the Redwings are 10-12 - 5-6 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference - with another winnable game coming up Tuesday night at Wheaton North (6-15).
Neuqua Valley, the top seed in the Oswego East Sectional, was assigned to the Batavia Regional and will face the winner of the Naperville North-Benet opening round game, the IHSA announced Friday. In order to win a regional championship, the Wildcats may have to defeat No. 9 Batavia on its own floor.
As a regional host, No. 2 Naperville Central will enjoy home-court advantage. But in order to advance, it could have to beat seventh-seeded West Aurora for a third time this season.
In the East Aurora Regional, No. 12 Waubonsie Valley will take on No. 21 Wheaton North for the right to face fifth-seeded Plainfield North.
If the brackets unfold true to form and all top-four seeds survive the regionals, Neuqua would meet East Aurora in one sectional semifinal, and Naperville Central would play Bolingbrook in the other. Regional play begins March 2.
As expected, the Neuqua Valley (24-1) and Naperville Central (20-2) boys basketball teams were awarded the first and second seeds, respectively, for the upcoming Class 4A Oswego East Sectional. The IHSA released the seeds Thursday afternoon, in the first year for online voting by area coaches.
In the 22-team grouping, Waubonsie Valley (10-11) was slotted 12th, followed by Naperville North (8-14) at No. 16 and Benet (8-12) at No. 17.
Regional sites were predetermined: Central, East Aurora, Batavia and Glenbard West will be hosts. The IHSA will announce the pairings on Friday. Regional quarterfinals are scheduled to begin March 2.
Oswego East Sectional
1. Neuqua Valley
2. Naperville Central
3. Bolingbrook
4. East Aurora
5. Plainfield North
6. Glenbard East
7. West Aurora
8. Geneva
9. Batavia
10. Wheaton Warrenville South
11. Bartlett 12. Waubonsie Valley
13. Oswego East
14. Willowbrook
15. Glenbard West 16. Naperville North
17. Benet
18. Marmion
19. Glenbard North
20. West Chicago
21. Wheaton North
22. Lake Park
Part of the challenge for Benet is trying to beat East Suburban Catholic Conference teams stocked with high-major Division I players. St. Joseph produces them on an annual basis, and that's why coach Gene Pingatore is at 820-plus career victories and counting.
Illinois travels to Northwestern Thursday night, and as Herb Gould explains in this Chicago Sun-Times feature, Bruce Weber is facing the same problem Pingatore did a few years ago. It's getting ex-Charger Demetri McCamey to play with maximum effort, as if he were a walk-on and not someone with NBA aspirations.
''When he was going to play against a name player or a top team, he was unbelievable,'' Pingatore told the Sun-Times. ''For run-of-the mill-type games, it was difficult. It's not just Demetri; it's human nature. And he is easygoing. He sometimes gets too casual. But when he turns it on, you'd like to bottle it.''
In this week's Focus we looked at Benet and competing in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. The Redwings hope their schedule will prepare them for the playoffs and perhaps position themselves for an upset victory.
"We're playing better," said first-year Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. "January was a tough month from the standpoint we played very good competition." The schedule included Notre Dame, St. Joseph, Marist and Oswego, though the team isn't looking for moral victories, as Heidkamp pointed out: "Not that it matters, you got to beat these teams."
At 8-12, Benet now faces three games in five days beginning Friday at Nazareth. That's followed by a rivalry game against St. Francis on Saturday at Benedictine, and a Tuesday trip to Wheaton North. No matter what happens, his players will expect Heidkamp to remain steady.
"He gets mad when he should," Benet sophomore guard Dave Sobolewski said of his coach. "He's pretty laid-back, which all of us like. He's not that big of a yeller, but he is one when he has to be. ... He thinks (that) we're mature enough to get through it ourselves."
The stretch could push the Redwings close to .500 - or leave them very disappointed - but it won't impact their seeding. The online voting closed this morning, and the seeds will be released by the IHSA later today. Be sure to check back throughout the afternoon for the latest.
CHICAGO - For a half, Benet played with one of the upper-echelon teams in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. And then two St. Patrick guards with Division I potential took over in a 66-51 victory on Friday night in Chicago.
Bryant Smith and Tim Traversa combined for 15 of St. Patrick's 17 third-quarter points, turning a two-point halftime lead into a 15-point advantage. All night Benet (6-12, 4-6) had trouble keeping those two senior guards in front of them. Smith finished with 30 points to lead St. Patrick (14-5, 8-2) while Traversa had 17, consistently break down his man off the dribble and finding an open teammate.
That ruined a homecoming of sorts for first-year Benet coach Gene Heidkamp, a former player and assistant at St. Patrick. Phil Hayes and Austin Wagner led the Redwings with 12 points apiece.
Benet senior Jessica Jendryk earned another national honor when she was named to the 2008 Mizuno All-American Honorable Mention Team, according to Benet's athletic site.
As a supplement to this piece on Naperville North's Carl Hunckler entering the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, we included a list of some of the area coaches similarly honored. As a reader pointed out, we missed Benet's Marty Wiora, who was inducted in 2001.
Brad Engel is the longest-tenured member of The Sun sports staff and has won several national and state awards in his coverage of preps as well as the Chicago Bears, Chicago Fire and general sports.
Paul LaTour
Paul LaTour has been honored with national awards in each of the last three years and currently serves as The Sun's sports enterprise writer in addition to his duties covering high school and college sports.
Patrick Mooney
Patrick Mooney covered politics, prep sports and professional baseball for several print and online media outlets before joining The Sun in August 2007. He concentrates on prep sports, writing features, profiles and breaking recruiting news.
