Boys basketball: February 2009 Archives

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.

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.

Drew Crawford has created a new standard at Naperville Central.

The Northwestern-bound swingman broke Tim Szatko's all-time school scoring record during Wednesday night's 59-49 win over Wheaton North in Naperville.

Crawford came into the team's senior night needing 15 points to set the mark, and he passed it with a twisting layup along the baseline at the 7:43 mark of the third quarter. Crawford finished with 28 to lead the 24-2 Redhawks, who completed a perfect 14-0 run through the DuPage Valley Conference.

Crawford now has 1,480 career points heading into next week's Oswego East Sectional.

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 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?

State tournament projections came bubbling up after Neuqua Valley's 39-point win at Downers Grove South on Saturday, but overlooked in that was how the Wildcats now can win the Upstate Eight Conference outright. They can thank South Elgin, which on Friday handed St. Charles North its second conference loss.

Neuqua (26-1, 8-1) can clinch it outright with a victory Friday against visiting Larkin (6-18). That means a team that hasn't lost a game since December against a team that hasn't won a game since that very same month. Last season Neuqua earned the title with a win on Larkin's floor in the regular-season finale.

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?

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.

This time Naperville Central wasn't interested in sharing.

Drew Crawford scored 27 points to lead the Redhawks to a 62-57 overtime victory against Wheaton Warrenville South on Friday night in Naperville. The win gave them the DuPage Valley Conference championship outright, a year after they split the title with Wheaton North.

Central last earned consecutive DVC championships in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons.

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.''

To get an idea of where Waubonsie Valley was - and where it could be going - compare last week's column off the Conference Challenge Classic and Thursday's Focus piece.

The Warriors (12-11, 4-3) are back above the .500 level with three Upstate Eight Conference games remaining: vs. Elgin (10-14, 2-6) on Friday; at South Elgin (15-6, 4-2) on Feb. 25; and vs. St. Charles East (8-15, 3-5).

That 18-point loss to York could have been a nice showcase game. There weren't many other distractions the first Sunday after the Super Bowl, and Waubonsie was playing on the big floor at Loyola University. Instead, it fell to what Waubonsie coach Steve Weemer described as "an ultimate low."

Weemer asked the same question he's presented to previous teams: "I just old our guys - (the seniors) - 'What kind of mark are you going to leave at Waubonsie?'"

We'll find out over the next few weeks. Waubonsie is seeded No. 12 seed in the Oswego East Sectional and will face No. 21 Wheaton North (7-15) in the opening round. A win there at the East Aurora Regional and it advances to face fifth-seeded Plainfield North.

"(We're) right at the .500 mark. (We're) right in the middle of everything," said Waubonsie senior forward Jelani Johnson (pictured). "Hopefully, we'll get that win and then we'll (play) Plainfield North and show everybody else what we got."

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).

CAROL STREAM - Naperville Central clinched a share of its second consecutive DuPage Valley Conference title with a 69-55 victory over Glenbard North on Friday night in Carol Stream.

Drew Crawford scored 12 of his 24 points in the first quarter of a game the Redhawks (21-2, 11-0) led almost entirely from start to finish. Dave Mallett, who added 22 points, took over from there against Glenbard North (7-15). The senior hit four 3-pointers on the night, and a few key baskets down the stretch once Crawford went to the bench with his fourth foul at the 2:52 mark of the third quarter.

The Redhawks, who shared the conference title with Wheaton North last year, can win it outright with a victory next Friday against Wheaton Warrenville South. The last time Central earned back-to-back DVC championships was the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons.

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 his Chicago Sun-Times-affiliated blog, Joe Henricksen of the City/Suburban Hoops Report breaks down that question and the candidacy of Drew Crawford, the 6-foot-5-inch Naperville Central swingman committed to Northwestern. Henricksen writes:

"Player of the Year conversation should include....
In a recent radio interview I mentioned that Naperville Central's Drew Crawford should be in the Player of the Year conversation. By the reaction I received you would have thought I was talking about a player in Alaska. While Crawford is certainly a darkhorse and a Hoops Report favorite over the past two-plus years, he has no realistic chance for the Mr. Basketball award due to the fact hardly anyone knows much about him or has seen him play. He doesn't play in the Public League, he didn't play at Proviso West or Pontiac over the holidays, and he didn't sign with a big-time college basketball program. Crawford, though, should be a top five Mr. Basketball vote-getter."

We agree with Henricksen's logic, but the guess here is that it won't bother the well-adjusted senior all that much. Crawford felt somewhat slighted when his breakout junior season didn't warrant a single offer, but he proved that he was a Big Ten player over the summer on the AAU circuit.

"Big-time" depends on your definition - Northwestern may not fit it - but remember that it was essentially Crawford's dream school, and in deciding to stay close to home he turned down Wake Forest.

In an age of elite players moving and transferring here and there, Crawford is still a four-year program player (three years on varsity) who will likely end his career as the school's all-time leading scorer. Crawford gets his shots without being selfish, and his teammates never seem to resent all the attention he receives, patiently answering the same questions. Maybe that's because he helps them get open looks and pad their stats, but it also has to be a reflection of his personality and lack of ego.

If, as seems likely, Central (20-2, 10-0) wins another DuPage Valley Conference title and makes a long run in the Oswego East Sectional, those Mr. Basketball votes will be an afterthought.

What would your player of the year ballot look like?

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.

It seems like the same story every time with Neuqua Valley (24-1), which is currently ranked seventh by the Chicago Sun-Times. There was balanced scoring on Tuesday night - Derek Raridon (13 points), Dwayne Evans (12 points, nine rebounds) and Kareem Amedu (12 points, six rebounds) all finished in double figures. And the big run (15-0) to gain separation. All against a quality opponent on the road (17-6 Geneva).

Beacon News hoops guru Rick Armstrong still managed to gather a few nuggets for this game story. The Wildcats sent another message before online seeding begins today for the Oswego East Sectional, and Neuqua associate head coach Bob Vozza got his annual chance to take over for head coach Todd Sutton and run the team for a game. Armstrong writes:

And Tuesday's non-conference tilt was a good one since it was a return home, of sorts, for Vozza. He was an assistant to former Geneva head coach Tim Pease from 1992-95. And he played for Pease as a freshman and sophomore in high school when the latter coached at Waubonsie Valley in the late 1980s.

"The kids respond to both of us," Vozza said. "It doesn't matter who is standing up there (in front of the bench).

Scott Powers meanwhile looks at Evans getting fired up after a technical foul on Tuesday night.

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Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central are located in the same city but separate school districts and different conferences. But a consensus seems to be building that Neuqua and Central will be the top-two seeds once the brackets are released later this week (Friday the 13th according to this IHSA release, a day after the seeds are posted).

Joe Henricksen of the City/Suburban Hoops Report thinks so, as does Illinois Prep Bullseye.

Dick Goss of the Herald News has Neuqua and Central at No. 1-2, with this warning:

But the field includes nine other teams with at least 14 wins, so matter what the online voters decide, there will be hurt feelings. ... Bolingbrook and Plainfield North can make legitimate cases for being in the 3-4 spots. But followers of East Aurora, West Aurora, Batavia, Glenbard East, Geneva and a couple of others may feel the same way.

CHICAGO - Waubonsie Valley dropped under the .500 level and ended a frustrating weekend with a 53-35 loss to York on Sunday at Loyola University's Gentile Center.

The Warriors (10-11) struggled offensively throughout, shooting 13-of-48 from the field at the Conference Challenge Classic, which followed Saturday's 64-50 defeat at St. Charles North. Jelani Johnson - the only Warrior in double figures - scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter of a game decided long before that.

York (11-10) held the lead for almost the entire game and limited Waubonsie to nine first-half points. Will Sullivan, who guarded Johnson, led York with 16 points while Tom Roth added 15.

This was the fourth of five games at the Chicago campus. Earlier in the day Gordon Tech beat F.W. Parker in overtime 53-48, Niles West outlasted Grant 65-61 in double overtime and St. Charles North defeated Johnsburg 53-42. Schaumburg-Glenbrook South was supposed to be the marquee nightcap game but those schools pulled out and were replaced by Providence-St. Mel and ACT Charter.

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.

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.

On Tuesday night Oswego East's Jason Buckley became the latest coach to testify on Neuqua Valley's behalf.

"They've got so many options and they run so many guys in and out and (there's) a lot of interchangeable parts," Buckley said after a 75-50 loss in Naperville. "You try and take away one guy, four other guys are gonna step up. They present a lot of matchup problems. That's why (I) think they're a legitimate state championship-type team. (That) doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna win the state championship, but they've got the pieces to do it and certainly make a long run."

Neuqua forward Dwayne Evans, who is drawing looks from Northwestern, said the team is aware of the expectations but not obsessed by those lofty projections.

"We don't necessarily block it out," Evans said. "We accept it (because) we're kind of proud of that, how we're playing right now. (We) take it as a positive, we take it in stride."

What sort of team will it take to beat the Wildcats (22-1) in the playoffs? And where do you think their season will end?

Neuqua Valley never trailed in earning a 75-50 nonconference victory over Oswego East on Tuesday night in Naperville. Dwayne Evans led Neuqua (22-1) with 12 points and 14 rebounds. In total 11 Wildcats scored in the win, an impressive display of balance against an Oswego East (9-9) team that had only one player in double figures. Neuqua showed why it's slotted seventh in the latest Chicago Sun-Times rankings.

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).