Time does fly by, but it's time to look back then forward at Fox Valley sports

It is a little hard to believe - well, maybe not for some - but last week marked the beginning of my 34th consecutive year covering high school athletics.

And no, I didn't start when I was 10 years old.

However, the years and decades have literally flown.

I remember when my oldest daughter, Devon, began attending high school.

Upon hearing a conversation, a fellow co-worker who already had kids in high school told me, "the high school years will fly by."

At the time, my first thought was, 'it might but I've got four children so it will likely last a long time.'

It turned out to be some of the best advice I've received,

Fourteen years later, the youngest of my four kids - my son, Brett, began his senior year of high school last week.

Time certainly does fly.

Before I begin talking about the current fall season, let's review some of the local happenings from this past summer.

One of the more inspirational and uplifting events occurred late last month as a total of 26 teams - consisting of 100-plus players - participated in the "Dunks for Dubbs" 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament at St. Charles East High School.

Held in honor of St. Charles East graduate Michael J Woods and sponsored by Tim Ryan's "A Man In Recovery Foundation," the tournament featured several past and current St. Charles East and St. Charles North basketball players.

Woods, who wore jersey number 00 during his varsity basketball playing days at St. Charles East, lost his life to addiction in early January of 2016.

Remembered fondly by his family and friends as a big-hearted, passionate, competitive and fiery personality, Woods was the type of kid who always had a huge smile on his face when I saw him at the high school.

"Dunks for Dubbs" T-shirts sold with one of Mike's favorite slogans printed on the backs - "be Somebody Who Makes Everybody Feel Like Somebody."

The list of tournament participants included Johnny Hondlik, Zach Hondlik, Luke Ludke, Jake Asquini, Jack Bronec, A.J. Washington, Zach Mitchell, Tony Neari, Kyle Nelson, Josh Soderstrom, Matt Breidigan, Steve Breidigan, Thomas Adams, Brian Clodi, Jake Clodi, Jude Clodi and Justin Hardy.

Zach Mitchell's Tear Drop squad earned the tourney title with a victory over Pistols Pete's.

In addition, a 10-minute YouTube video highlighting the event was produced by Sam Martino, Joey Alexander and Chris Segretto.

Proceeds from the daylong event ($6,000) were donated to the "A Man In Recovery Foundation."

•While I'm on the topic of fundraising events, the 4th annual Matt Kenney Memorial Golf Outing is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 9, at Hughes Creek Golf Course in Elburn.

The $100 per golfer fee includes 18 holes of golf with a cart (1 p.m. shotgun start), food and drink tickets, a T-shirt, longest drive, putt and closest to the pin contests, and dinner at Hughes Creek.

A dinner-only option is also available.

Last year's event drew 94 golfers and helped raise money toward a scholarship fund awarded annually to two Geneva High School seniors.

Kenney, a 2002 graduate of Geneva and former high school basketball player, died at the age of 21 in an automobile accident in October of 2004.

•For the second consecutive season, St. Charles North's baseball team reached the Elite Eight of the annual Phil Lawler Summer Classic state tournament in July.

Coach Todd Genke's North Stars (17-2-1) opened the double-elimination portion of the tourney with a 10-3 victory over Libertyville and outlasted Glenbard West 10-8 in 8 innings in third-round action, sandwiched around a loss to Lincoln-Way East.

Led by pitchers Christian Erickson, Nick Skurka and Steve Hamer, catcher Sean Nemetz and outfielder Tommy Nelsen, the North Stars advanced to the state semifinals for the first time before being eliminated by St. Rita, 6-0.

One week earlier, St. Charles North rallied from an 8-7 deficit with an unearned run in the top of the seventh before Erickson provided a game-winning, 2-run double in the eighth during its 10-8, 8-inning regional championship victory over top-seeded Kaneland at St. Charles East.

Erickson, who entered in relief during the North Stars' 8-3 regional semifinal win over Oswego earlier in the day, also recorded the save against Kaneland.

St. Charles North aims for its fourth straight Upstate Eight Conference River Division title next spring.

Craig Brueske can be reached at csb4k@hotmail.com.