Neuqua Valley (20-1) - which held steady at No. 11 in the Chicago Sun-Times rankings - is also featured on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The network's Web site has on demand video from last week's 90-63 victory at Bartlett.
Boys basketball: January 2009 Archives
Naperville North is 6-10 overall - 0-6 in DuPage Valley Conference play - and it looks like turning the season around just became more difficult. Huskies coach Mark Lindo said Tuesday that senior guard Danny Grimley and junior forward Arnas Gintautas could both be done for the season. Grimley has been playing through a stress fracture in his foot while Arnas Gintautas may need shoulder surgery for an injury suffered during football season
The Huskies travel to an improved West Chicago team on Friday for their only game scheduled this week.
"We're giving up a lot of easy looks on defense right now," Lindo said. "People are knocking down jump shots against us (and) we just lost a couple key people to injuries. And that's what we went through all last year and now we're doing that again."
Before it even made the trip to Rockton, Neuqua Valley was being mentioned as a possible state contender. Then the Wildcats (19-1) went out and won all four games at Hononegah's Martin Luther King Classic.
Monday's sweep began by beating last season's runner-up in Class 4A. Forward Dwayne Evans scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to lift Neuqua to a 68-54 victory over Zion-Benton.
The Wildcats, ranked 11th by the Chicago Sun-Times, don't rely on one single scorer. Later in the day it was junior guard Rahjan Muhammad who stepped up with 17 points in a 59-51 win against Normal Community.
"Neuqua Valley can score in the post, can score outside, can rebound," Zion-Benton coach Don Kloth told Scott Powers. "They got a really good team."
Neuqua Valley is bracing for another Waubonsie Valley invasion on Friday night. You figure that Waubonsie (8-6) knows the Wildcats as well as anyone, but they get away from the Upstate Eight Conference for the rest of the holiday weekend. Neuqua travels to Hononegah in Rockton for the Martin Luther King Classic, and it should be a good test for a 14-1 team.
"The timing is great," Hononegah coach Mike Miller told the Rockford Register Star. "It's a situation in which a lot of people are looking to upgrade their schedule and try to play against some great competition about a month or so before tournament time gets into full swing. You want to test yourself against the best, and that is what this tournament has grown into."
The Register Star lists the schedule for the Hononegah MLK Tournament:
Saturday, Jan. 17
Hoffman Estates vs. Neuqua Valley, 9:30 a.m.
Guilford vs. Normal Community, 11 a.m.
Normal West vs. Hononegah, 12:30 p.m.
Sterling vs. Zion-Benton, 2 p.m.
Neuqua Valley vs. Guilford, 3:30 p.m.
Normal Community vs. Hoffman Estates, 5 p.m.
Zion-Benton vs. Normal West, 6:30 p.m.
Hononegah vs.Sterling, 8 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 19
Normal West vs. Guilford, 9:30 a.m.
Hoffman Estates vs. Hononegah, 11 a.m.
Normal Community vs. Sterling, 12:30 p.m.
Zion-Benton vs. Neuqua Valley, 2 p.m.
Sterling vs. Normal West, 3:30 p.m.
Neuqua Valley vs. Normal Community, 5 p.m.
Guilford vs. Hoffman Estates, 6:30 (in dome)
Hononegah vs. Zion-Benton, 6:30
Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central are both rising in Michael O'Brien's Sun-Times basketball rankings. Neuqua (14-1) climbed three spots to No. 12. Central - which improved to 14-1 overall and 5-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference last weekend - moved from No. 22 to No. 18.
"Great team win," Central coach Pete Kramer said after Saturday's 54-46 victory at Wheaton Warrenville South. "It puts us in a real good position cause if you look at where we have to go, and where we've already been, (that's) a good thing. (But) again, as a team, we've talked about one game at a time. Next it's West Chicago."
Here then is a breakdown of Central's upcoming DVC schedule. The Redhawks have already notched home wins against West Aurora, Naperville North and Glenbard North. They've traveled to Glenbard East and WW South and earned victories. The remainders look like this:
Continue reading Hoops: Moving on up.
Naperville Central nearly gave away all of its 15-point lead on Saturday night at Wheaton Warrenville South before closing out a 54-46 win. WW South made it a one-possession game in the final minute, but what really added a layer of tension to the finish was the fact that Central had Drew Crawford down for three fouls while the official book had him with four.
Basically there was a miscommunication at the scorers' table. At some point, a foul that should have gone to No. 11 (Danny Ondik) instead went to No. 1 (Crawford - who incidentally is the son of a veteran NBA referee).
Afterward WW South coach Mike Healy said Crawford might be the most valuable player in the entire state - who knows what would have happened if the Northwestern-bound senior had picked up his phantom fifth foul.
In the days leading up to a first-round NCAA tournament game last March, Jon Rice found himself impersonating Duke point guard Greg Paulus in practice. Belmont, the No. 15 seed, nearly became one of those Cinderella stories. It pushed the hated Blue Devils for almost 40 minutes before losing 71-70.
Now, away from the spotlight, the Bruins' focus is wandering a bit, as Kyle Whelliston explains in this ESPN.com story. But a fourth-consecutive NCAA bid is still possible. And Rice, the 6-foot guard who finished his high school career at Waubonsie Valley, is making progress. Whelliston reports:
Jonny Rice is a redshirt freshman guard who is making the most of his seven minutes per contest, shooting 54 percent from the floor and making half of his 3-pointers in limited action. He sat on the sidelines last March as his future teammates battled Duke.
"I wanted to play so bad, just get in that game," said Rice. "But last year I got a lot done with school, and it gave me time to learn the plays. Every minute I get on the floor, I just want to make the most of it and get better. And hopefully we'll get another chance to play in the NCAA tournament."
Neuqua Valley (12-1) checks in at No. 15 in the latest edition of Michael O'Brien's Super 25 boys basketball rankings. The Sun-Times slots Naperville Central (12-1) at No. 22 in the same poll.
The Wildcats, whose only defeat was a 74-70 overtime loss to East Aurora, rebounded to win the Elgin holiday tournament. Neuqua travels to Plainfield Central on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
The Redhawks - coming off a Wheeling tournament championship that saw Northwestern recruit Drew Crawford earn MVP honors - next host Glenbard North on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
