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.
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.
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.
In Thursday's notebook we highlighted the lift 6-foot-5-inch sophomore Matt LaCosse has given Naperville North in the two games since his promotion to the varsity. That's a familiar name you shouldn't forget, as he will likely be North's starting quarterback come Aug. 28 at Neuqua Valley.
LaCosse fits the profile of a big, athletic player who can potentially make an immediate impact in a postseason game. Last year Glenbard West's Tyler Warden couldn't be found in your sectional program, but there was the sophomore taking over the Drew Crawford assignment midway through the third quarter of a regional final. To that point, the Naperville Central star had scored 12 points, but with Warden's long arms suddenly in his airspace, he finished with just 17.
Of course being John Shurna's wingman has its benefits. Shurna scored half of Glenbard West's points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 40-36 comeback victory.
As it turns out, Shurna and Crawford are friends who will be teammates next season at Northwestern. In the meantime, Shurna will continue hitting big shots. On Wednesday night his baseline 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds to play was the difference in a 72-69 victory over Ohio State in Evanston.
"[This win] is a great feeling for the whole team," Shurna told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We've been neck-and-neck in all these Big Ten games, and it doesn't seem to fall our way. So it's nice to finally pull one out.''
The challenge is daunting, no doubt. Naperville North, fresh from its overtime victory over East Aurora, gets top-seeded Bolingbrook next.
Not that the Huskies are giving up, but even senior Kaelyn Witkowski laughed a little when asked what the Huskies' game plan was for the Raiders, the nation's 11th-ranked team by USA Today.
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
The last time these District 203 rivals met, Drew Crawford was feeling sick but still managed 21 points to lead Naperville Central to a 43-32 victory over Naperville North. The Huskies (7-13, 1-7) will have to deal with the Northwestern-bound swingman again Friday night on their own floor.
Last week West Aurora assigned one primary defender to Crawford, instead of rotating several fresh players to guard him. Jamal Blackmond made Crawford work - he didn't score during one eight-minute stretch in the first half. But Crawford still efficiently put together a 25-point game and just his presence opened things up for the other Redhawks.
After Central's 51-46 win, West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman was asked about ways to contain Crawford.
"No specific gameplan. Just try to keep (Crawford) from penetrating as much as possible, give Jamal as much help as possible," Kerkman said. "Some people force baseline. We do not force baseline. We try to deny baseline. We got beat on the baseline so many times by him, either with backcuts or just dribble-drives.
"He hurt us. There were times where he went down there and we maybe came down to give him help - but he kicked to somebody that was open and they got the good shot."
That is North's dilemma on Friday night. And that's why Central is 19-2 and 9-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference.
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.
Naperville North and Naperville Central are asking fans to bring non-perishable food items to Friday's crosstown boys basketball game between the Huskies and Redhawks.
The sophomore game is at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds will go to the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry.
For more information contact the athletic departments at North (630-420-6490) or Central (630-420-6444).
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.
