Mead steps forward for Hoffman
Cleaning out some pre- and post-Thanksgiving boys basketball leftovers …
Mead-er reader: Hoffman Estates junior Luke Mead broke loose after averaging just a shade less than 4 points a game and hitting 17 3-pointers last year.
Mead averaged 19.7 points and was 8-for-14 behind the arc as the Hawks went 3-0 to win the inaugural Crystal Lake Central Coaches vs. Cancer Thanksgiving Tourney title.
"He's very confident and he's gotten stronger and stronger," said Hoffman coach Bill Wandro.
But Mead also did his part to get everyone else involved with 22 assists as the Hawks look to improve on last year's 16-14 finish.
"All of us worked hard over the summer and our goal is we want to go downstate," Mead said. "It's not like our goal is to win the regional. We want bigger things this year."
Carryover effect: Basketball practice started a couple of days after Rolling Meadows' football season ended with a second-round playoff loss to Lake Zurich.
"I gave them a couple of days off," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "A couple of them didn't want to take it but I told them, 'No, I want you to take it so you come back excited about it.'"
It was clear Ty Kirk, Kevin Serna, Ben Sabal, Joe Okon and Trevor Fritz were excited about the transition. Meadows went 3-1 at Fenton's Chuck Mitchell Tournament and led Naperville Central by 14 points in the third quarter before falling in the championship game.
"We had a big chip on our shoulder after the loss to Lake Zurich," Serna said after a season-opening win over Lake Forest Academy. "We were happy to get on the field or on the court any way we could and take out some of that emotion."
Kirk (12 points a game), Sabal (11 ppg) and Serna (9.3 ppg, 10 3s) showed their capability of taking some of the scoring load off senior Kyle Gaedele (17.8 ppg).
Stan Pheteau suffered a broken ankle against Lake Zurich and Katovich said Meadows will miss his energy and defense. But Katovich was happy Joe Okon didn't need surgery right away for a knee injury and is able to provide some inside muscle off the bench.
"I was joking with him, 'Are you OK to get .8 points a game, can you do that?'" Katovich laughed. "I have to remind him it's not like football and you've got to stop before you run into the guy."
The change in seasons didn't stop Okon from delivering some hard hits as he fouled out of Meadows' first 2 games.
Young Lions: The future and present looks promising for St. Viator sophomores Richard McLoughlin and Alan Aboona.
The 6-foot-3 McLoughlin averaged a team-high 13 points in Viator's Thanksgiving tournament. Aboona scored 11 points and handled the point well in a 52-45 loss to Thornton.
"The sophomores are playing really good right now," Viator senior Mike Landuyt said after the Thornton loss. "They've really come into their own and we've formed a really good team bond."
And they didn't look like sophomores playing their first varsity games.
"Alan is confident in his ability and we've tried to encourage him to use those abilities," said Viator coach Joe Majkowski. "He's just going to get better.
"(McLoughlin) is kind of streaky, he's a very streaky player right now. He's another sophomore who looks like he's been playing on varsity for a year or two. He doesn't step away from anything."
Good Knight: John Camardella put his varsity head coaching debut in perspective before Prospect faced St. Joseph in the St. Charles East tournament.
"You've got (Gene) Pingatore with 700-something wins," Camardella said with a laugh, "and I've got zero."
Pingatore is now at 799 after St. Joseph won the tourney. But Camardella picked up his first three after a 3-point loss in the opener.
All-tourney guard Jeff Heiden and the inside tandem of Kevin Reed and Alex Toth led the Knights to their best start since they went 4-0 at the Streamwood tournament in 2001-02.
Heiden averaged 16.8 points and 3 assists and was 17-for-29 from 3-point range, Reed averaged 14.8 points and 9 rebounds, blocked 15 shots and shot 72 percent from the field and Toth averaged 11.8 points and 8 rebounds.
Staying in the game: Don Rowley isn't feeling blue but he is wearing it now.
After retiring as a head coach at Hersey after last season, Rowley moved a few miles northeast to coach the Wheeling freshmen and help with scouting for the varsity.
"Having coach Rowley there has been a really nice addition," said Wheeling coach Lou Wool, who is assisted by Rowley's son Don Jr. "I'll still pinch myself that he's not on the other side of the court when I don't see him wearing the brown and orange.
"He enjoys coaching the freshmen and he's having a great time."
New-look Cougars: Conant had five players -- Tom Sotos, Jeff Keegan, Tony Rizzo, Chris Hoffman, Tim Gilhooly -- hit double figures in its 2-1 start at the St. Viator tournament.
And nine of the top 10 players the Cougars used in a 60-48 win over Harlan scored with Keegan and Gilhooly scoring 13 points.
"We have to have that (balance) with the type of team we have," said Conant coach Tom McCormack.
Don't foul him: Wheeling senior All-Area guard Chris McClellan has already been to the free-throw line 28 times in 3 games. And McClellan has yet to miss.
The Lewis University-signee averaged 24 points a game as Wheeling went 1-2 in the Billy D. Schnurr Tournament at Niles West.
"It definitely put him at ease," Wheeling coach Lou Wool said of McClellan's college choice of the Division II Flyers. "I know there was a lot of stress on him and there was a really strong desire by him to play Division I.
"This was the best possible thing that could have happened."
On the road again: After completing a 3-1 finish at the Rockford Boylan tournament, Schaumburg heads north of the border Saturday.
The Saxons will take on Nicolet, located just north of Milwaukee, at 3 p.m. in the Terry Porter Classic at Milwaukee South High School.
Schaumburg won't be making trips to Peoria Richwoods or the Hillcrest Shootout this year. But it will return to the Pontiac Holiday Tournament in December and will go to the Rock Falls Shootout on Jan. 5.
Broken record: Breaking the single-game school scoring record in a 100-92 overtime loss to Elgin in Buffalo Grove's Bison Classic didn't make Lakes any happier than when it originally set the mark.
The second-year school lost 94-88 in triple overtime to Antioch last season.