Hoffman, Maine West, Conant reach semifinals
Only one of the favorites survived the three rounds of playoffs last week at the boys high school basketball summer league at Harper College.
Hoffman Estates, which was undefeated during regular-season play and the top playoff seed, grabbed 3 relatively easy victories by beating Marian Central 56-33, Crystal Lake South 56-42, and Elgin 67-57.
Running a hybrid version of the Princeton system, the Hawks' offense improved greatly during the summer.
"Our players have played hard every night, and our defense has been better than expected," said Hawks coach Bill Wandro.
Keys to the Hawks' success have been seniors Ben Collins, Kevin Lessner and Casey Terry, juniors Tom Dombrowski and Chris Hall and sophomore Joe Valadez.
The Hawks' opponent in today's 6:15 p.m. semifinal will be Maine West.
"I am pleasantly surprised at our success," said third-year Maine West coach Erik McNeill. "These seniors won their first game ever on our underlevels last year in a junior varsity game with Deerfield. They have never had much success. But they have worked hard and have continued to develop."
The Warriors' top players should be seniors Adis Kadiric, Stewart Turner-Jackson, sharp-shooting Jimmy Orlowski and junior Sargon Yousseff.
The other 6:15 p.m. semifinal will feature St. Patrick and Conant.
"The league has been a great experience for our players," said veteran St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey. "We have played some of our younger players here, and, very honestly, have caught some teams without their best players."
Conant, which returns no starters and has very little experience from last year's Mid-Suburban League champion, has improved all summer. Starting 1-3 in league play, the Cougars finished 6-4 and defeated Wheeling, Maine East, and Cary-Grove in the playoffs.
"These kids are learning how to win on the varsity level, especially in close games," said Cougars coach Tom McCormack. "Our juniors have never lost on the underlevels, so it's not like the cupboard is bare."
The championship game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.
Since most of the AAU competition for high school players has been completed, the semifinalists should be at full strength tonight.
Playoff results
(In bracket order)
July 24 games
Hoffman Estates 56 Marian Central Catholic 33
Crystal Lake South 46 Streamwood 44
Lake Zurich 74 Lake Park 51
Elgin 67 Addison Trail 60
Elk Grove 44 South Elgin 42 (OT)
Buffalo Grove 44 Schaumburg 33
Maine West 61 Elgin St. Edward 56
St. Viator 52 Huntley 48
Maine East 36 Prairie Ridge 30
Conant 59 Wheeling 28
Fremd 38 Rolling Meadows 35
Cary Grove 63 Dundee Crown 50
Crystal Lake Central 42 Elgin Larkin 38
Bartlett 54 Hersey 45
St. Patrick 68 Jacobs 25
Stevenson 54 Wauconda 19
July 26 games
Hoffman Estates 56 Crystal Lake South 42
Elgin 63 Lake Zurich 62
Elk Grove 65 Buffalo Grove 57
Maine West 63 St. Viator 54
Conant 60 Maine East 49
Cary Grove 51 Fremd 49
Bartlett 61 Crystal Lake Central 51
St. Patrick 36 Stevenson 34
quarterfinals
Hoffman Estates 67 Elgin 57
Maine West 67 Elk Grove 61
Conant 43 Cary Grove 31
St. Patrick 61 Bartlett 54