Batavia to put tickets on sale for Showdown
Tickets for the Batavia boys basketball team's appearance in the 11th annual Meijer High School Hoops Showdown will be sold Dec. 17-21 at the high school athletic office from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tickets also may be purchased at the Batavia home game Dec. 21 or by going online to searscentre.com.
Tickets are $13 for adults and $11 for students.
Batavia will play Marshall, tied for the top spot in the Class 3A state rankings with Simeon, who the Bulldogs also will play this year at Night of Hoops. Batavia is ranked 10th in Class 4A.
West Aurora sale:ŒFive-by-five pieces of West Aurora's old gym floor will be on sale at tonight's game against Glenbard North.
This is the same floor the Blackhawks had since the gym opened in 1953 and used through last year. The pieces are selling for $250, with some going for more than others, as a fund-raiser for the booster club.
Mooseheart 62, Cornerstone Christian 37:ŒIt's impossible to deny that Mooseheart had a good game offensively on Thursday.
But despite the 62-point effort that saw all 10 roster players score -- what really stood out was the way the Ramblers played defense. A relentless pressing, trapping defense helped key Mooseheart's 62-37 win at Cornerstone Christian Academy.
"I thought we came out pretty slow offensively," Mooseheart coach Jeff Perales. "Cornerstone, as the home team, was going to come out and shoot well on their court. I felt that once we got some pressure on them, they'd start forcing some bad shots. That happened."
The win is the sixth straight for Mooseheart (6-2), which dropped its first two games of the season but has certainly hit its stride since.
The other side to that pressuring defense was that Mooseheart created a number of turnovers before Cornerstone reached halfcourt. Those extra possessions invariably turned into Ramblers points.
In the second quarter, Mooseheart outscored Cornerstone 17-3, opened a 36-12 halftime lead and was in control the rest of the game.
As the lead grew, the Ramblers stayed under control and never started taking low-percentage shots.
"We have some guys who have played for me for three years," Perales said. "Floyd (Mays) and Chris (Morones) and Mike (Tovar) and they're really understanding what it's like to play as a team."
Mays, Tovar and Ethan Grasty each scored 11 points to lead Mooseheart in scoring.
"They made sure everyone was involved," Perales said. "We took a lot of good shots tonight. I thought we missed a lot of easy shots. You're going to have nights like that. But you still have to work hard defensively, and I thought we did that."
The Ramblers came into the game off a longer than expected time without playing. Tuesday's contest with Kirkland Hiawatha was canceled due to poor weather.
"We wanted to get the guys a lot of playing time, and we accomplished that," Perales said.
The Ramblers and Kirkland Hiawatha have rescheduled their makeup contest for Tuesday, Dec. 18. The varsity will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and that game will mark the end of fall semester play for Mooseheart.
"It's going to be great to get it in before Christmas," Perales said. "We need some games. We're only going to be nine games in. I wish we could have had a few more."
-- Darryl Mellema