Lisle takes special pride in Shootout

Now in its sixth year, Lisle's "Playing for Pride Shootout" gets its name from the original concept of rural schools coming in for some basketball against the big city folk.

Nine games will be played Saturday in Lisle's two gyms, starting with Monmouth-Manley at noon and concluding with the host Lions against shootout newcomer Argo at 8 p.m.

Though not in the urban vs. rural mode, Lisle-Argo will indeed be played for pride. Years ago Lisle coach Mark LaScala and Argo coach Pat Maietta were on the same coaching staff at Fenwick.

"We used to scrimmage each other at practice," LaScala said, "and now we're doing it for real."

Driscoll, whose Albany-bound senior Jake Lindfors set a Lisle Thanksgiving Tournament record with 42 points against Montini, gets an early game, 2 p.m., against Deer Creek-Mackinaw.

Timothy Christian guards Jaaron Holmes and Andrew Logan play at 4 p.m. against Lake Forest Academy's front line that goes 7-foot, 6-10 and 6-8.

Hartsburg-Emden, enrollment 83, plays a 5-1 Wheaton Academy team at 7 p.m.

At 6 p.m., East Suburban Catholic Conference-tested Benet goes against North Lawndale, the 2007 Class A state runner-up. Coach Lewis Thorpe's Phoenix won Lisle sectional titles in 2006 and 2007 and started the season 5-0 at Lisle's Thanksgiving Tournament.

"They've won a lot of games at Lisle's gym, that's for sure," said LaScala, who said Illinois coach Bruce Weber was on hand during the Thanksgiving tourney scouting 6-10 Phoenix sophomore Paul Bunch.

Lawndale will test Benet's ability to handle full-court defensive pressure and, at the same time, make a dent on the defensive boards. What Benet is to discipline, North Lawndale is to flow.

"Sometimes their best play is a missed shot," LaScala said of Lawndale's offensive rebounding prowess. "Those two teams have a very much contrasting style."

Lions claw back: Lisle started out 0-6, not the typical beginning for the traditional Interstate Eight Conference power.

When on Nov. 30 the Lions beat Manteno 46-32 behind Andrew Rapciak's 20 points in Lisle's IEC opener, LaScala saw the bright side.

"We're in first place," he said.

Lisle graduated scorers Dan Wenclawski and Derek Leonard from last year's team, but LaScala hopes Rapciak and 6-4 center Mike Gortowski supply the senior leadership roles -- and points -- the team can rally around.

The whole idea took a hit when in the fourth game senior point guard Matt Bryjak broke his hand and is out well past Christmas. Junior Jay Osika took over the point.

"That puts a lot of pressure on him," LaScala said. "He's really a shooting guard moved to the point guard position.

"Really, everybody needs to take care of the ball -- Andrew and Cameron Wright and Marcus Wilson, all the guys in the backcourt that handle the ball."

Tuesday, Seneca knocked Lisle out of first place, but LaScala still sees positives.

"We're an inexperienced team and I think we've got some ways to go in taking care of the ball," he said, "but our defense has been strong and our rebounding has been good most nights."

Fast guys, fast start: "Hard work's contagious," Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer said, and the bug has spread to a Warriors club that's started off 6-1.

Losing only to Payton -- a team coached by Wheaton Central 1981 graduate George Turner -- for the title of the Hoops for Healing Thanksgiving Tournament, Waubonsie Valley is getting mileage out of its three-guard lineup headed by seniors Kevin VandenBerg, Josh Daniels and Justin Peaster.

"The key so far is the three seniors that were on the varsity as sophomores understand what they system is about and what it takes to be successful and how hard you've got to work," Weemer said.

It's rubbed off on the likes of senior forward Kyle Obendorf, who despite his 6-foot-2 size is the key Warriors "big man." Waubonsie always seems to have an undersized power forward-type hanging around, a la Tom Barnett or Mike Bowden.

Obendorf grabbed 16 rebounds in a 76-57 win at Bartlett.

Jelani Johnson, a 6-3 junior, has added a scoring touch to help the three guards.

Obendorf enjoys taking a charge in the lane. He coexists on the defensive end with active veterans Peaster, Daniels and VandenBerg, who come off their men to hassle bigger players inside.

"I think that's wore people out late in games," Weemer said. "They just keep coming at you."

Like Waubonsie as a whole, which started the season with eight straight road games including Friday's at Streamwood.

Saturday the trend reverses. The Warriors close out the first half of the year with four home games, then four more in their own Warrior Christmas Classic.

Downers Grove South on Saturday in Aurora will pose a challenge.

"The cliché is, it's not where you start, it's where you finish," Weemer said. "You've got to keep going and you've got to get better every day."

Raiders rolling:ŒLast season it took Glenbard South 24 games to reach four victories.

This year it took only six.

The Raiders improved to 4-2 with Tuesday's 59-41 nonconference win over Lemont in the latest evidence of improvement in Glen Ellyn.

"Even last year people always said how hard we were playing and how we were getting better," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. "Now they're seeing how that hard work pays off."

While returning contributors such as Andy Manson, Wally Wiedner, Will Hill and Louis Erkins have keyed this season's surge, newcomers also have added to the mix.

With Erkins out of the lineup recently, junior guard Ralondo Shumate has stepped up. Not only is he providing much-needed ballhandling skills, he's also knocking down key shots.

It's one of the many reasons the Raiders have avoided the frustration of last season's 0-13 start. In fact, a win tonight against Western Sun Conference power Batavia would match their win total from a year ago.

"It's going to be a very big test, and we'll see how we measure up," Hardtke said of Batavia, ranked first in the Daily Herald Top 20. "We've said all along that early success would build some confidence. We'll see if we can build even more against Batavia."

Hurting Huskies:ŒThe impact of Naperville North's Class 8A state football championship is still being felt on the basketball team.

Bryan Bailin's broken wrist was operated on this week, and Dan Hess will be out for an undetermined amount of time because of a knee injury.

Add that to the strained labrum suffered last week by Clint Hunter, and Naperville North is hurting as it competes in the balanced DuPage Valley Conference.

"At least now we know we need to fill roles," said Huskies coach Mark Lindo. "Before, we were wondering when we're going to get guys back. Now when we get them back it'll be a bonus."

Gold rush:ŒWith just one night of basketball, the West Suburban Gold showed how up-for-grabs it's going to be this season.

In last Friday's openers, perennial Gold champion Proviso East struggled to a 54-52 win over Hinsdale South. Downers Grove South, meanwhile, stunned Willowbrook by staging a big second-half rally to claim a 63-56 overtime victory.

Hinsdale South led the Pirates by 2 points at the half and then rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to make it close at the end.

"Our kids just kept battling," said Hornets coach Vince Doran. "It was definitely back and forth."

With Morton also looming as a contender, it's already shaping up to be an interesting season in the Gold.

"It's not that surprising to me," Doran said. "In some years you know Proviso East is about four Division I players ahead of you. They're still a very good basketball team, but the gap has closed."