Adams, ACC trip up Wave

After Josh Dix drained his third 3-pointer in the first two minutes of the game Friday night, the St. Edward student section shouted, "He's all day, he's all day!" The crowd was so loud, it sounded as if it chanted, "he's all-state!"

Thanks to the junior guard's 3-point parade, the Green Wave took a quick 9-1 lead. But, what some didn't know was that there may have been an all-state player on the court already, and Aurora Central Catholic's Mark Adams proved why.

Adams went on his own personal tear, scoring 34 points, including five 3-pointers and grabbing 9 rebounds, keeping the Chargers undefeated with a 75-61 win in a Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball game in Elgin.

"He just goes. He's an all-stater. I really believe that. He's an all-stater, and that's what all-staters do," said Chargers coach Nate Drye.

It looked early on that Dix was just going to hit every shot he took, as the Green Wave (4-1, 0-1) jumped out to a 13-6 lead. After witnessing Dix's 3-point performance, Adams went on his own binge. He canned three 3-pointers the first half, and singled-handedly took over the second quarter, as he pumped in 15 points, including 10 consecutive points that led to a 4-point lead for the Chargers (7-0, 1-0) with a little over 4 minutes left in the first half.

After the Chargers went into the half leading 33-29, Adams came out where he left off, hitting two 3-pointers and scoring 10 more points in the third quarter to give his team a 55-44 lead after three quarters.

"He was tough to guard. We started out man-to-man, and he started getting to the basket real easy. So we switched to a zone to slow him down, and he started knocking down some 3s," said Green Wave Keith Chuipek.

And if it wasn't enough, Adams' last basket, an alley-oop dunk off a feed from his brother Mike, put the nail in St. Edward's coffin.

"I felt we were struggling to get the ball in the hole. We were struggling with the pressure he fans were giving us. So I had to step up," said Adams.

Nick Czaja added 17 points and 6 rebounds for the Chargers.

Dix and Steve Martin each had 19 points to lead St. Edward. Brett Manning added 14 for the Green Wave.

Girls basketball

Buffalo Grove 43, Wheeling 34: One day after being the subject of a feature on the Channel 2 news at 5 p.m., Buffalo Grove's nationally-ranked girl basketball delivered a made-for-TV rally in its biggest game of the season.

BG is ranked No. 1 in the Daily Herald Top 20 and Wheeling No. 3.

Down 11-2 after one quarter and then 21-6 with under three minutes to go in the first half, the state's No. 1 Class 4A team rallied for a 43-34 triumph on Friday night over No. 4 Wheeling before a packed house in the Buffalo Grove gymnasium.

A 17-footer by Bianca Szafarowicz, 2 free throws by Ashley Wilson, a layup by Lana Rukavina and a steal-and-layup by Janelle Cannon (8 points, 6 rebounds) had the Wildcats (9-2, 1-1) enjoying a 21-6 lead in the Mid-Suburban East battle.

Buffalo Grove's 62-game home winning streak was in jeopardy.

"I thought I better call a timeout and go home," said Bison coach Tom Dineen.

Instead, the Bison (9-0, 2-0) came back on the floor and cut the deficit to 21-11 by half.

"I told the kids we were on our home court and after scoring only 11 points, they had to take some pride," Dineen said. "They hadn't lost here in three years."

The Bison got the message.

Taking advantage of 10 turnovers in the third quarter, they outscored the Wildcats 15-3 and found themselves right back in the game.

Trailing 24-23, Maggie Mocchi (9 points, 5 rebounds) grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup and 3-point play to give the Bison its first lead at 26-24 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.

Allison Mocchi (10 points, 6 rebounds) scored BG's first three baskets of the final quarter.

After two free throws by Stephanie Kuzmanic tied the game at 28-28, Allison Mocchi drove one-on-one with her defender to basket for a bank shot and 30-28 lead that her team would never relinquish.

Wheeling was led by Illinois-bound Rukavina's 10 points and 10 rebounds. Future D-I prospect Wilson scored 6 points with 5 rebounds.

-- John Leusch

Schaumburg 56, Barrington 52: Easy is being 7-0.

And not having been challenged yet.

Easy is being up 15-4 in the first quarter.

And still be looking for a challenge.

That's how it's been for Schaumburg's girls basketball team so far this season. They looked terrific on their way to 8-0 Friday night with an 11-point first-quarter lead at Barrington against a young Fillies team committing a lot of turnovers, taking low-percentage shots and not getting a whole bunch of rebounds either.

But it all changed. Barrington went to a zone defense that Schaumburg had trouble solving. The Fillies started hitting the boards and stayed with the taller Saxons for the final three quarters. They started hitting their shots too, especially impressive freshman Shelby Whigham (16 points), sophomore center Emily Harris (7 points) and junior guard/forward Claire Roggeveen (12 points).

And when foul-plagued Lianne Davis hit a 3 midway through the third quarter, Barrington had the lead.

But Schaumburg (8-0, 2-0) reawakened.

"This is exactly what we needed," said Schaumburg coach Bill Murmann after his team survived what became a seesaw battle from there to score a 56-52 Mid-Suburban West win. "This is exactly what we needed against a team that had a lot of heart."

Schaumburg's senior leadership showed the way, too, over the far less experienced Fillies (1-7, 0-2). Senior guard Kylie Castans took charge, hitting 4 of 5 shots during one stretch of the second half, two of those huge 3-pointers. Then she turned it over to her taller partners down low and they responded. Gabby Blackwell finished off a terrific evening, hitting her last four shots in the second half, including two late to provide the winning cushion. Gryte Satas used her 6-foot-2 frame to block 3 shots in the fourth quarter as well and veteran Drewann Pancratz had a big jumper and 2 free throws.

Afterward, Castans' thoughts on the game, after a lengthy but reflective Saxon postgame team session, showed why she's the leader she has become.

"We just realized we needed to make the extra pass. We just realized we needed to hit the open man," she said of the patience and poise her team displayed.

For Barrington, meanwhile, it was almost a moral victory.

"I loved that we didn't go away. It would've been real easy for us to pack it up," down 15-4 in the first quarter, said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "I was just happy with us as a team."

-- Howard Schlossberg

Elgin Academy 51, Morgan Park Academy 42: The Hilltoppers (3-7, 1-2) improved their record with this Independent School League win over Morgan Park Academy. Lauren Steimle was the leading scorer with a team high 17 points. Alyssa Pena also added 15 points for the Hilltoppers.

Illiana Christian 62, Westminster Christian 14: In the Private School League Westminster (0-5, 0-2) fell to Illiana Christian. Rachel Doby and Hannah Graves each scored 4 points to lead the Warriors.

St. Edward 62, Aurora Central 35: St. Edward (5-1, 2-0) jumped on top early and stayed on top to remain unbeaten in Suburban Catholic Conference action with this 62-35 win in Aurora. Katie Yohn led all scoring with 19 points. Celeste VonAhnen also hit double-digit scoring for the Green Wave adding 12 points, while Lychelle Erickson contributed with 9 points.

Boys basketball

Morgan Park 82, Elgin Academy 52: Despite double-digit scoring from Cory Ebert (13 points) and Jovon McDonald (11 points), Elgin Academy (1-6, 0-3) dropped this Independent School League game.

Grayslake Central 43, CL South 35: Falling behind early, Crystal Lake South (4-3) was unable to make up ground, dropping this Fox Valley Conference crossover to the Rams. Wesley Evans led the Gator offense with 10 points, while Eric Wilde added 8 points.

Huntley 56, Woodstock 52: A dead-heat throughout, Huntley (5-2) hung on for this Fox Valley Conference crossover win over Woodstock. Tom Giordano sealed the victory with some last-minute heroics sinking 2 timely free throws. Zac Boster led all scorers with 18 points for the Red Raiders, dropping six buckets in from behind the arc.

Jordan Neukirch added 12 points, and Brett DePorter contributed with 11 points.

"Our guys played really hard for four quarters," said Huntley coach Marty Manning.

Cary-Grove 59, Grayslake North 50: Behind double-digit offensive contributions from brothers Paul Tometich (21 points) and Mark Tometich (16 points), Cary-Grove earned this Fox Valley Conference crossover win over Grayslake North.

Ben Jacquier contributed with 13 points.

Westminster Christian 68, Illiana Christian 62: An unstoppable Joel Benson led Westminster Christian to this 68-62 overtime Private School League win finishing with 31 points. Tyler Beachler was close behind Benson with 25 points. Benson now has 988 career points.

Trailing by 10-points at the half, the Warriors continued to push, lifting themselves to the win. Cory Hodge added 10 points.

Men's basketball

North Park 83, Judson 66: Despite double-digit scoring from four players, Judson (5-3) dropped this nonconference contest to North Park.

The Eagles were led by DeWayne Robinson (17 points, 6 rebounds), Steffan Williams (15 points), Justen Boyd (10 points), Chris Oates (14 points) and Ilija Bojanic (10 rebounds).