Glenbard East shootout brings top talent to area again

Glenbard East boys basketball coach Scott Miller advises fans to arrive early for Saturday's When Sides Collide Shootout at the school.

"It's a great afternoon, a great evening of basketball," Miller said of the quadrupleheader. "You're going to see some of the best teams in the area, some of the best players in the state. For six bucks you can't beat it."

Action starts in Lombard with a 2:30 p.m. tipoff between Jacobs, led by 6-foot-9 Cameron Krutwig, and Hillcrest. At 4 p.m. defending sectional champion Joliet West faces Whitney Young.

Local flavor begins at 5:30 p.m. with balanced Naperville North playing Evanston with Purdue-bound point guard Nojel Eastern. When Sides Collides ends with the 7:15 p.m. tipoff between the host Rams and neighboring Willowbrook.

Evanston, Joliet West and Whitney Young are top-eight teams in The Associated Press Class 4A poll. Jacobs also has been ranked.

Glenbard East (1-17) finally got not a monkey but a gorilla off its back at Wheaton Warrenville South's MLK tourney with a 63-50 win over Huntley.

"It was a 1,000-pound weight," Miller said.

In November he lost his top two players, Mike Finley and Kenny Adams, for the season due to injury and suspension, respectively. That thrust role players such as Josh Chriske, Jimmy Fairbairn-Vargas and Orlando Kimbrough into featured spots alongside freshman point guard Alijah Nelson, who against Huntley scored 23 points with six 3-pointers.

Glenbard East finally got good news when forward James Peterkin returned Friday at West Chicago. In five games the junior has recorded two double-doubles. Over the holidays the Rams also brought up 6-2 sophomore Anthony Schockey.

"For us he's a game changer. He's 6-3, a strong kid, plays bigger than he is and gives us some size inside that we desperately need," Miller said of Peterkin.

"He wasn't with us the first 13 games due to academic issues and credit him, he got it together. I think it's going to help him in the long run, too. He's back on track to graduate. It's not only a good basketball story but a good life story."

Reinforcement:

Not that Willowbrook needs a boost with a 16-1 record and three tournament titles under its belt, but the Warriors sure got one last weekend.

Senior Iman Reynolds, a transfer from Hinsdale South, made his season debut as Willowbrook won four straight games Saturday and Monday to win Sterling's Martin Luther King tournament. The 6-foot-4 wing saw his first prep action since his sophomore year on the Hornets' varsity team.

"He's another weapon for us," said Warriors coach Chris Perkins. "He can play point and he can play inside or out. He's a 6-4 player that adds a dimension that we're missing."

While Reynolds is explosive driving and creating shots for himself and others, he also has the ability to take pressure off 6-6 junior center Ethan Schuemer in the post. In four games at Sterling, Reynolds averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, including 18- and 13-point performances in his last two games.

Coming off the bench with Freddie Clay, Marshawn Phillips and others, Reynolds brings an electric presence to a rotation that was already very talented.

"He gives us that bigger guard on the wing," Perkins said. "He takes a lot of pressure off all the guys, including Ethan. It's tough to guard Iman 1-on-1, and you can't double-team both of them."

Settling in:

Naperville North (11-4, 5-2 DuPage Valley Conference) boasted one of the area's most experienced teams coming into the season, but even the Huskies needed time to settle into a regular rotation.

After putting several different lineups on the court throughout the early part of the season, the rotation is starting to round into shape as the Huskies head into the second half of the DVC schedule. In Friday's 41-30 cross-town win at Naperville Central, the starting lineup look familiar compared to other recent games.

"They've been starting for about four games now, so we're probably going to stay with that in most situation unless something happens," said Huskies coach Jeff Powers.

Mitch Lewis, Cam Hardy and junior Chris Johnson are the returning starters from last season while Tyler Carlson and Chris Sullivan add to the backcourt. The Huskies gain tremendous energy from their bench with Winston Elston, sophomore Tom Welch, Jack Hill, Tabo Tarun and others.

Since dropping three of four games in December, Naperville North has won five straight heading into Friday's DVC game at Waubonsie Valley. The Huskies also play state-ranked Evanston in Saturday's When Sides Collide Shootout at Glenbard East.

"We're good with that rotation right now," Powers said. "We like what everyone's giving us."

Cross country:

Winter break for Wheaton Academy and Timothy Christian boys basketball teams is always interesting.

Due to its Winterim session focusing on internships and a team out-of-state trip, Wheaton Academy (5-12) did not participate in a holiday tournament. A brief trip to Indiana from Jan. 8-11 included the Wisconsin-Purdue men's college basketball game in West Lafayette, visits to Taylor University and Indiana Wesleyan and a game against Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis. Emmerich won 79-53.

"They're very good," said Warriors coach David Osborn.

So were the boys.

"Ordering steaks when they're probably too expensive for our budget, that's about as crazy as it got," Osborn said.

Timothy Christian's Renew program had the Trojans (10-5) working a variety of service projects in and around Phoenix in a whirlwind trip Jan. 2-11.

Highlights included visits to Grand Canyon University, Arizona Christian and Arizona State, a speech by current Los Angeles Dodgers adviser Ned Colletti - a Chicagoan who started with the Cubs - and service projects at Phoenix-area churches.

Coach Jack LeGrand said the team also spent a day at a St. Vincent DePaul facility, where some players returned to donate shoes and clothing.

"That was really rewarding," LeGrand said of the St. Vincent DePaul visit. "We were there the whole day and our kids did everything from helping plant and cultivate food to making and serving dinners. The guys really liked that a lot."

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