New faces hope to continue Kaneland’s success

Kaneland’s Brian Johnson is not a basketball coach annoyed by the football team’s long playoff run.

“There’s something nice about our athletes at Kaneland,” said Johnson, who has several varsity basketball candidates suiting up for Saturday’s Class 5A state semifinal football game against Montini.

“You get these football players, they’re tough, hard-nosed kids,” Johnson said. “They work really hard, the coaches push them on the football field, and that’s why I’m not worried about them coming in late.”

Eventually he’ll have returning starting forward Tyler Callaghan, who averaged 2 points and 1.9 rebounds, plus Kory Harner and Sean Carter checking in. There’s the possiblity 6-foot-3 freshman Dan Helm may make varsity after showing his skills on the football team as a playoff addition.

Johnson hopes he won’t see them on the court till after Thanksgiving.

One thing Kaneland won’t have at all this year is 6-foot-9 tower of power Dave Dudzinski. The honorary captain of the 2009-10 Daily Herald Tri-Cities All-Area Team took all his double-doubles and his school blocked shots record to Holy Cross. He made his college debut Nov. 13 with 2 points in seven minutes in a 93-84 loss to Charleston.

Last season it took Kaneland’s opponents two games to score 93 points. The Knights allowed an average of 47.1 points, a school record. Dudzinski’s shot altering was a huge reason, but Johnson believes players like Callaghan, Harner, forward Matt Spitzzeri and guards Matt Cowans and another freshman prospect, Drew Davis, will make the defense strong again.

Offensively, 6-3 senior forward Chaon Denlinger looks to improve upon his 9.2 points per game, which leads all Kaneland returners. Consistency is the key for the 6-3 senior, who made 52.9 percent of his shots last season.

Last season Kaneland won 17 games for the first time since 1995, and was a tough ticket in the last year of the Western Sun Conference.

Helping familiar foes DeKalb, Sycamore, Yorkville and Rochelle plus Morris usher in the Northern Illinois Big 12 East, Kaneland will take some of that gridiron mentality to the court.

“We’re really going to try to build on the success from last year’s team and keep moving forward and keep striving to get better,” Johnson said. “I told the kids last year they were kind of the foundation of what we wanted to do at Kaneland, and they did a real nice job of being that strong foundation.”

Quick facts

Coach: Brian Johnson (2nd, 17-10)

Last year: 17-10, 7-7, fifth in Western Sun Conference; lost 50-47 to DeKalb at the Class 3A Kaneland regional final.

Players to watch: Tyler Callaghan, sr., F-C; Matt Cowans, sr., G; Chaon Denlinger, sr., G-F; Kory Harner, so., G; Matt Spitzzeri, sr., F.