Cary-Grove's Ruhland out with knee injury
Cary-Grove senior Trevor Ruhland's basketball season has likely ended due to a knee injury.
Best known as a Notre Dame football recruit who started at offensive tackle in two state championship games for Cary-Grove, Ruhland (6-foot-4, 280 pounds) suffered a small tear in his meniscus while planting to set a screen during a 38-27 loss to Crystal Lake South last Friday.
Ruhland underwent surgery Wednesday morning. The prognosis was good, according to Matt Ruhland, Trevor's father.
"It was the best-case scenario," Matt Ruhland said. "It was just a small tear in the meniscus so the doctor simply cleaned it up a bit. No other ligaments or joints were affected."
Though the estimated four-week recovery time from surgery is better than originally expected, Matt Ruhland called Trevor's return to the basketball court this season "unlikely."
Ruhland was averaging 5.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for the Trojans (8-9).
"Everyone will have to up their rebounds per game to make up the difference," Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "We will have to play a smaller, faster lineup that can create scoring opportunities for our defense. His leadership will be missed."
Sharpening up: With only one game in 14 days preceding this Friday's Upstate Eight River rematch at Elgin, recent Larkin practices focused on "the little things" that undermined the Royals during a recent 3-game losing streak, according to coach Deryn Carter.
Larkin's coach said the Royals needed to work on their mental toughness in adverse situations, getting in better shape to play the up-tempo style he prefers and being more patient offensively.
Larkin (13-7, 5-4), which defeated Elgin 69-34 on Dec. 12, is led by 6-foot-6 sophomore Christian Negron, who is averaging 12.3 points and 12.1 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.9 blocks and 2 steals per game. Junior guard AJ Hunter (9 ppg, 3.1 rpg) has drained a team-best 30 3-pointers.
Elgin (6-17, 2-7) has lost 2 straight and 9 of its last 10. The Maroons are led in scoring by 6-2 junior wing Lavion Baldwin (16.7 ppg) and 5-7 junior wing Desmond Douglas (11.6 ppg, 4.7 apg). Senior post Mike Miller averages 6.7 rebounds and has drawn 14 charges. Senior Chaquille Bennett has connected on 29 3-point attempts.
Larkin senior forward Juwan Stewart is no longer on the roster due to a violation of team rules, Carter confirmed Wednesday. Stewart, who transferred last fall from Dundee-Crown to Larkin, was averaging 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 14 games. He averaged 6.1 ppg as a junior at Dundee-Crown.
And one: Bartlett held on to beat Glenbard East 56-50 last Friday despite uncharacteristically leaving the door open with late missed free throws.
In fact, free-throw shooting is one reason Bartlett (15-6, 6-2) is in position to tie first-place Neuqua Valley (19-3, 8-1) in the loss column in the Upstate Eight Valley when the Hawks visit the Wildcats on Friday at 7:15 p.m.
Bartlett has connected on 259 of 363 attempts this season (71.4 percent).
"One of our goals is to be above 75 percent as a team," said Bartlett leading scorer Ryan DiCanio, who makes 87.8 percent of his foul shots (79 of 90). "Most of the season we've either been at that mark or exceeding it."