BC-Hampshire meet tonight

Two of the Fox Valley area's top three scorers will square off tonight when Big Northern-East rivals Hampshire and Burlington Central tangle on Rocket Hill at 7:15 p.m.

Burlington Central (4-1) is off to a great start, led by scoring machine Mike McCurdy.

The senior guard notched 26 points in a win at Stillman Valley last Saturday, a total that -- believe it or not --actually lowered McCurdy's area-best scoring average from 29.3 per game to 28.6.

Senior forward Joel Benson of Westminster Christian is second in area scoring at 21.8.

"He's always been capable of this," Central coach Chris Payne said. "He kind of took a second seat to Cully (Payne) last year. I think he's always had this ability, but we're seeing it come out now. I think he realizes he has to be the guy now, and he's accepted the challenge."

McCurdy is benefiting from a wide-open offense in which the Rockets spread the floor, allowing him and others to create. Central does run more set plays than in recent years, but Payne has done away with the motion offense for now. McCurdy is thriving.

"He is doing a heck of a job," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. "I thought he was good last year. I wouldn't say he was second fiddle but, of course, there was Cully. But last year I don't think (McCurdy) wanted the spotlight. He wanted to do his thing and do it well.

"Now he is in the spotlight and he's taking advantage of it. He's good."

Hampshire is led by senior T.J. Burzak, the area leader in field goals with 54. Burzak is averaging 21.2 points per game.

However, the main reason the Whip-Purs (2-4) are off to a sluggish start despite Burzak's many contributions is the team's overall inexperience. Burzak is the only senior in an eight-man rotation that includes five juniors and two sophomores.

"We're just trying to piece things together, finding the right combinations, finding out who can do what," Barnett said. "We're coming up with some ideas and we'll see how it goes.

"We're young and we've got some learning to do. With young kids it's drill after drill after drill until it becomes second nature instead of having to concentrate on doing something."

But this is a rivalry game, and records pale in comparison to game-night emotion.

"I told the guys right after the Stillman game that it really doesn't matter what the record is of the two teams," Payne said. "It's always going to be a good game."

Crossing over:ŒIt should be a compelling game in Grayslake Saturday night when the teams with the best records in their respective divisions of the Fox Valley Conference face off in a divisional crossover.

Jacobs (6-1) has won four straight overall and seems to be rounding into form behind senior guard John Moran (20.3 ppg.) and junior forward Conrad Krutwig (15.1).

The Golden Eagles will face a balanced Grayslake Central team that is off to a 6-2 start behind Michael Brumm (12.9), Andrew Sipes (12.0) and Alex Anderson (11.0).

"They are always tough," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said of the Rams. "They play a real physical game. Every year they are probably the most physical team we face. They're more like a Mid-Suburban team."

Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen said his team gets saddled with the "physical" label due to the aggressive man-to-man defense it plays.

"We're going to get through screens and hedge off screens and our kids work every single day on playing tough man-to-man defense," Bowen said. "If that's physical, then that's what it is. I just don't want people to think we're out to rough anyone up, especially Johnny (Moran).

"Two years ago the game between us got pretty rough and some of the fans took it as if we were cheap-shotting them. We never do that. We just work hard."

In recent years Bowen has tried to slow the pace against Jacobs. Hinkle expects more of the same this time around, though Bowen kept his strategy close to the vest.

"I have several thoughts, but I haven't quite finalized what we'll do," Bowen said on Wednesday. "Jacobs can play fast or slow. No matter what we have to keep them off the boards, not give them easy baskets in transition and make them earn their shots."

Don't buy it:ŒPerimeter defenders shouldn't bite if Huntley guard Zac Boster strays inside the 3-point arc. He probably won't shoot from there.

Boster, who finished third last year at the King of the Hill 3-point showdown in Peoria, has taken 50 shots this season, 48 of which were 3-point attempts.

He has made 23 of those shots from 3-point range and currently boasts a 46-percent success rate from long distance.

Learning from a loss:ŒWestminster Christian doesn't want to erase the memory of its 54-49 loss to Walther Lutheran on Nov. 30.

The Warriors intend to learn from it.

Westminster (4-2, 2-1 Private School League) overcame an 8-point deficit to take a 47-42 lead on speedy Walther with 3:30 to play in that game, but the Warriors couldn't protect the lead because they couldn't protect the ball.

Walther's smothering full-court trap forced 7 Westminster turnovers in the final minutes and the Warriors hurt themselves by missing 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch.

At every practice since that game, Westminster coach Bruce Firchau has put 47-42 on the scoreboard and 3:30 on the clock.

"We try to create different scenarios so we can learn from that, so we can learn to protect a lead," Firchau said. "As I told them after that game, I'd rather go through the pain of discipline right now than the pain of agony later. It's very important that we learn from this."

The Warriors are not as strong a 3-point-shooting team as they've been, according to Firchau, a lack of production they offset by getting to the free-throw line often. Last year the Warriors made more free throws than their opponents attempted.

That trend has become even more pronounced this season. In a 68-62 victory over Illiana Christian -- the first win in boys basketball of any kind for Westminster over Illiana -- the Warriors went to the line 37 times.

Illiana? Twice.