Recently in DuPage Valley Conference Category

City/Suburban Hoops Report guru Joe Henricksen picked up some good nuggets at the Oswego East Shootout. We're also curious to see how Naperville North responds this year in the DuPage Valley Conference, but finding someone who can create on the perimeter isn't easy - the Huskies have had size for a few seasons now. Henricksen reports:

The DuPage Valley, which was dominated by Drew Crawford and Naperville Central last season when the Redhawks went 14-0, should be a much-improved league this season as a whole. While the defending champs will take a dip with the loss of Crawford, the other seven teams should all be better than a year ago. Glenbard East, which recently went 9-0 and won the Illinois State Team Camp, and West Aurora will be the favorites. But Naperville North, under first-year coach Jeff Powers, will be absolutely huge along the frontline. If North, which will rely on 6-9 Matt Hasse, 6-6 Joe McNicholas, 6-4 James O'Shaughnessy and 6-6 junior Matt LaCosse can get solid guard play and find a perimeter shooter or two, the Huskies could challenge in the DVC. Naperville North played well at Oswego East, even without a few of its key players. Wheaton-Warrenville South has also showed promise this summer with its play.

The Hoops Report took in a couple of nice Naperville North wins as they beat Plainfield Central, a team featuring 6-6 senior Winston Williams and 6-2 talented junior Derrick Marks, and knocked off East Aurora and Ryan Boatright. Speaking of Boatright, the family was still awaiting word from USC and newly hired Kevin O'Neill. In the meantime, the interest has picked up considerably for Boatright as the family and East Aurora coaches have heard from several schools.

Senior pitcher/outfielder Pat Kaminska, junior outfielder Matt Cmiel and senior shortstop Anthony Lopez represented Naperville Central on the all-DuPage Valley Conference baseball team.

Naperville North placed pitcher Jake Naumann, catcher David McWilliams, outfielder Nick Laskowsky and pitcher/outfielder Charlie White on the all-DuPage Valley Conference baseball team.

Wheaton North clinched the DuPage Valley Conference championship outright on Wednesday with an 11-7 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South. That sucks most of the oxygen out of Thursday's series finale at North Central College between Naperville North and Naperville Central. The Huskies were rooting for a Wheaton North loss and a chance to gain a share of the DVC title. Now both teams can focus exclusively on getting ready for the postseason.

Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple was cryptic when asked who will pitch in Thursday's series finale at North Central College. After Tuesday's 5-4 loss at Naperville North, Seiple didn't know the final score of the Wheaton North-Wheaton Warrenville South game.

"How we deal with this depends on what happened to Wheaton North," Seiple said. "If we still have a shot, (we'll) do it one way. If we don't, we may do it another way."

With the defeat, and Wheaton North's 11-1 victory, Central (20-12 14-6) lost any hope of stealing a share of the DuPage Valley Conference championship. We'll be looking at some of Central's options going forward in Thursday's print edition.

NAPERVILLE NORTH 5, NAPERVILLE CENTRAL 4 (EIGHT INNINGS)
Central 000 012 01 - 4 5 0
North 300 000 02 - 5 8 1
3B: NC - Cmiel; 2B: NC - Kaminska; NN - Laskowsky, Moon.
WP: Klosak (2-3); LP: Kaminska (4-2).
Strikeouts: NC - Kaminska (3); NN - Torrez (5).

Eye black smeared across his face, Alex Helms slammed his helmet to the ground. This time it was Naperville North flooding out of the dugout to celebrate a walk-off victory at home plate.

Again Naperville Central came back from a three-run deficit and pushed a key DuPage Valley Conference game beyond the seventh inning. But with the bases loaded in the eighth, North junior Paul Bloodgood delivered the clutch hit on Tuesday, bouncing a two-run single to left that secured a 5-4 win.

The day before North unraveled late, leading 3-0 heading into the seventh inning before ultimately losing 4-3 in the ninth.

"We have to keep a positive mindset. And that last inning when we came up, everyone's like, 'Ok, we need to get one run,'" Bloodgood said. "Coach was saying, 'Why get one? Get two, end it right here.'"

Once Helms beat the throw and slid in safely for the game-winning run, the Huskies (22-7, 15-5) could jump around, because they still might be able to play for a share of the DVC title.

With the loss, and Wheaton North's 11-1 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South, Central (20-12 14-6) was eliminated from the race with one conference game left to play.

Whether or not Thursday's series finale at North Central College has meaning depends on what happens Wednesday in Wheaton. WW South travels to Wheaton North (23-4, 16-4), which will be looking to clinch.

Waubonsie Valley hasn't picked up where it left off. The Warriors advanced to the semifinals of the state summer tournament, but they've opened this season 0-4.

After Wednesday's 9-4 loss at Naperville North, Waubonsie coach Dan Fezzuoglio was a little curt, but at the same time emphatic that good things will happen.

"We have hit the ball pretty well," Fezzuoglio said. "We hit the ball well today against one of the better kids in the area (Jake Naumann) and that's encouraging."

Waubonsie can also begin to start over in a sense with Thursday's Upstate Eight Conference opener against St. Charles East. At least it doesn't play in the DuPage Valley Conference. Waubonsie's losses thus far have come against North, Naperville Central, Wheaton North and West Chicago.

"I'd rather be working the kinks out (now) instead (of) the end of the year," Fezzuoglio said. "We could see Central again or North again. We know we're a quality team and we're gonna be there."

After a 14-0 run through the DuPage Valley Conference, Drew Crawford and Pete Kramer were recognized as its player and coach of the year. Here's the complete list:

All-Conference
Drew Crawford, Naperville Central*
Dave Mallett, Naperville Central*
Danny Ondik, Naperville Central
Paul Sanders, Glenbard East*
Zach Miller, Glenbard East*
Jack Merrithey, Glenbard East
James Fleming, Glenbard North*
Reilly O'Toole, Wheaton Warrenville South
Tyler Griffith, West Chicago
Danny Grimley, Naperville North
Markus Cocroft, West Aurora*
Juwan Starks, West Aurora*

Special Mention
Dan Hohenstein, Wheaton Warrenville South
Chad Driscoll, West Chicago
James O'Shaughnessy, Naperville North
Zach Dungee, Wheaton North

Honorable Mention
Nick Linne, Naperville Central
Matt Neufeld, Naperville Central
Reggie Davis, Glenbard North
Derek Babb, Wheaton Warrenville South
Will Dolatowski, Wheaton Warrenville South
Chris Bradley, Wheaton North
Lee Skinner, Glenbard East

Naperville Central senior Kelley Hendrick was selected for the third straight season as a unanimous choice for the all-DuPage Valley Conference girls basketball team.

Hendrick, the defending Sun Player of the Year, was joined on the first team by teammate Emma Ondik, a sophomore who was also a unanimous choice.

Naperville North senior Kaelyn Witkowski also earned first-team honors.

Two Redhawks -- junior Claire Fleming and freshman Emma Donahue -- were named Special Mention, while North senior Haley Krentz and Central junior Catherine Tanck earned Honorable Mention nods.

Neuqua Valley destroyed Downers Grove South - a team that beat Naperville Central by five points last month - during a 70-31 victory on Saturday night, an effort that pushed the Wildcats to No. 8 in the Chicago Sun-Times rankings. Guard Rahjan Muhammad led the Wildcats (26-1) with 17 points as they extended their winning streak to 18.

Central, the DuPage Valley Conference champion, remained at No. 20 in the same poll, and look for a common opponent like Downers Grove South to be a reference point come March. Basketball's chattering class continues to talk up Neuqua as a state title contender.

Roy and Harv Schmidt of Illinois Prep Bulls-eye predict that Neuqua will beat either Central or Bolingbrook for the sectional title and then take care of Rockton Hononegah in the DeKalb Super-Sectional to earn a trip to Peoria.

After Saturday's performance in Downers Grove, what are your predictions for the Oswego East Sectional and beyond?