Beck leads Chargers past PR; C-G tops Huntley
From substitute to top player in one year.
That's the story of Dundee-Crown junior Jeff Beck.
Beck, who saw limited time off the bench last season for the Chargers, poured in 17 points with 6 assists and 3 steals to help lead D-C to a 56-37 victory over Prairie Ridge in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game in Crystal Lake Saturday night.
"Jeff has really improved with the ball and without the ball, " said D-C coach Lance Huber. "He understands me and my moods and helps the other guys in practice and in games. "
Beck has accepted his role.
"It is a little easier this season because I know what to expect," Beck said "I am getting more minutes and I know I have to be more of a leader. We watched a lot of film this week on Prairie Ridge and were ready to play. It was a good team effort."
It was Beck, who led a crucial charge for D-C (4-3) early in the second quarter.
With the score knotted at 11, he hit 2 mid-range jumpers and had a pair of steals which led to 2 layups by Greg McNally. After the dust had cleared, the Chargers had ripped off 8 straight points and led 19-11 with 5:36 remaining in the half.
Prairie Ridge countered with a 3-pointer by Mike Ungari to make the score 19-14. D-C Came right back with a 3 from McNally to lead 22-14 with 4:14 left before intermission.
Making 8 of 13 from the field for 61 percent, Dundee-Crown outscored the Wolves 17-11 in the quarter and led 28-19 at the half.
Led by 7 points from Ungari, including a 3-pointer, the Wolves (1-9) sprinted out of the locker room with a 7-2 run. Ungari's 3 cut the deficit to 30-26 with 5:44 left in the quarter.
PR couldn't get any closer. The Chargers made sure of that. D-C countered Prairie Ridge's run with a 10-0 surge of its own. Five points from Beck including a 3-pointer, a 3 from Justin Strzelczyk and a putback From Charles Kimbrough extended Dundee-Crown's lead from 4 to 14 art 40-26 with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
"I look at the scoreboard and we are only down 4 and it seems like a minute later we are down 14," said PR coach Corky Card. "Dundee-Crown played very well and ran their stuff well. They were very patient. We didn't guard anybody in the perimeter or inside. We are really struggling."
Other than Beck, the only Charger in double digits was McNally with 11.
"This was a little shocking tonight," said Huber. "This is as well as we have played all season. We played with a lot of confidence on both ends. "
Ungari paced the Wolves with 18 points.
Boys basketball
Cary-Grove 43, Huntley 40: The Cary-Grove Trojans relied on some intensity from their bench and took control of the game in the second half to seal a 43-40 win over the Huntley Red Raiders Saturday in a Fox Valley crossover game at Huntley.
The Red Raiders (5-3) were able to get an early 14-6 lead in the first quarter by finding Mike Gonzaga, who had a game-high 12 points, under the basket on numerous occasions. Gonzaga had 7 points in the opening quarter, but the Trojans (5-3) tightened up defensively on him and held him to only 1 field goal in the remaining three quarters of the game.
Pete Pellizari and Matt McCord, who both came off the bench, charged the Trojans bringing some much-needed intensity to the floor. Pellizari hounded the Huntley guards in a full-court press causing numerous turnovers-diving on the floor and deflecting anything in his reach in the final two quarters of the game.
"I think when we see Paul and Mark (Tometich) struggling on any given night, that we are deep enough that we can step up and we have guys coming off the bench that can hit a couple shots," said Pellizari. "We feed off of their energy, and when they are down we bring some energy (to the floor) so they can feed off of us and start knocking down some shots."
McCord also played a big role in the win. He scored 7 points and each one came when the Trojans seemed to really need it. McCord crashed the offensive glass in the third quarter that helped the Trojans to pull ahead.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Trojans struggled to close out the game. After two Trojan missed free throws and a wide-open missed layup that would have put the game out of reach, Huntley's Tom Giordano buried a 3-pointer while being fouled with 7 seconds left in the game. Giordano's attempt for a 4-point-play rimmed out and McCord won the battle between him and three Huntley players for the rebound. McCord was sent to the line where he hit 1 of 2 to make it a 3-point game.
"I was pretty nervous, but I was glad I knocked the first one down to make it a 3-point game. I wish I would have made the second one though," said McCord. "Even though we were missing those (opportunities), we still felt confident the whole time."
Huntley rebounded and brought the ball down the court, but the game-tying shot fell way short. Huntley shot just 3-for-21 from 3-point range in the game.
"We just weren't putting the ball in the basket," said Huntley coach Marty Manning. "James Naismith invented the game where you have to throw a ball in a peach basket, and it doesn't matter how good of defense you play or how well you handle the basketball, if you don't make shots you're not going to win."
-- Todd Johnson
Driscoll 69, St. Edward 45: Driscoll's boys basketball players waited eight games before stepping onto their home court to face competition other than each other.
When their home opener finally rolled around Saturday night in Addison, the Highlanders made every second count, cruising to a 69-45 victory over St. Edward.
Driscoll (7-2, 3-0 Suburban Catholic Conference) began the game on a 15-0 run, as seniors David Schwabe and Jake Lindfors seemed to score at will.
After a pair of Green Wave free throws stopped the Driscoll run at 15, the Highlanders went right back to work, scoring the quarter's final 9 points to grab a 24-2 lead after one.
Driscoll executed so well on both ends of the floor during the opening quarter that even St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek stopped to admire.
"They're good. I enjoyed sitting on the bench and watching them play, because they've got a great team," Chuipek said.
The Highlanders capped their second 15-0 run early in the second quarter, as David Schwabe scored to push the Driscoll lead to 30-2.
Junior guard Austin Baker cited Driscoll's teamwork as the main reason for the blistering start.
"We all play as a team. We're all close and everything," Baker said. "None of us are selfish."
Highlanders coach Nick Latorre harnessed his players' enthusiasm for the home opener into a swarming defense that allowed just 9 first-half points.
"It was our first home game, so I think the kids were excited about playing at home," Latorre said. "So far, (in) our first few games we've really kind of developed a mentality defensively that (defensive pressure) is going to be what's going to make us a good basketball team."
Driscoll pushed its lead to 51-13 in the third quarter before a majority of starters earned the rest of the night off.
Latorre knows more success is in store for the Highlanders if they continue to believe in their system and themselves.
"Hopefully, they continue to buy in," he said. "They practice really hard, they compete, and there's a good team chemistry that's kind of emerging, so hopefully that continues."
Brett Manning paced the Green Wave (4-4, 0-4) with 17 points, all in the second half.
Despite the lopsided performance, Chuipek was pleased to face a different style of defense.
"A lot of teams we've played so far have been zones, so it was kind of good to see us play against man-to-man," he said. "I thought we stood up to their pressure, but we just didn't make some shots."
-- Matthew McClarey
Oak Park 62, St. Charles North 32: St. Charles North basketball coach Tom Poulin, now in his second season as head coach of the North Stars, had a plan last off-season.
Poulin had hoped that by scheduling tougher out-of-conference games for his developing team, they would in turn be better prepared for future competitive teams in their conference.
However, after dropping their fourth consecutive game Saturday night at Oak Park by a score of 62-32, Poulin, along with his players, are left wondering how to react to starting their season with a 2-7 record.
"We're facing, every night I believe, teams that are athletic and some of the better teams in the state," Poulin said. "We just need to keep plugging away."
The North Stars knew coming into Saturday's contest that they would be in for a challenge, seeing as they were facing Oak Park's Imann Shumpert. Shumpert is one of the most highly touted players in the state of Illinois and has committed to play at Georgia Tech next season.
Despite the fact that Shumpert (10 points, 4 rebounds) did not dominate the game, his athletic prowess was evident throughout as he connected on two long distance 3-pointers, and distributed the ball effectively to his teammates.
"I'm more about winning (than scoring)," Shumpert said. "I don't feel any pressure to go for 30 or 40 points per game even thought that's what a lot of people want to see. That's not my game."
Trailing by nine at the half, the North Stars came out playing more efficiently on the offensive side of the ball, and were able to utilize junior Zach Hirsch's outside shooting in the third quarter to cut Oak Park's lead to 25-19.
Hirsch, who led all scorers with 14 points, was seemingly unstoppable from the outside as he connected on four of 10 three-point shots.
"I think that as the year goes along you always gain more confidence," Hirsch said. "I'm able to get more confident (with my shot) as a result of (our team's) ability to penetrate the lane."
After bringing his team within six points midway through the third, Hirsch, his teammates and the coaching staff alike, felt they were within striking distance.
"We were thinking this is the time we have to keep the basketball," Poulin said of his team's third-quarter run. "That was a pivotal moment because if we would have taken care of the basketball, we may have been able to keep it interesting."
However, a 17-2 run by Oak Park to end the quarter put the game out of reach for St. Charles North.
The second-year coach however remains confident in his team's abilities and the valuable lessons they are learning early on this season.
"We're hoping this plan (to play tougher competition) pays off in the long run," Poulin said. "If we keep staying positive, come March we'll be a better team because of it."
-- Dan Hyman
Bartlett 70, Elk Grove 52: The Hawks defeated Elk Grove for a nonconference victory. Kamil Janton led for Bartlett (6-3) adding 17 points. Mike Selvaggi also contributed with 14 points. Teammates Marc Little and Cory Hrynyk also put 9 points on the board to add to this win.
Wrestling
Burlington Central quad: The host Rockets went 3-0 for the day, downing Rockford Lutheran 68-9, Reed-Custer 61-21 and Jacobs 56-17.
Kevin Marshall (103 pounds), Shane Burke (112), Curt Mastio (140), Taylor Schuck (160), Drew Halstead (171) and Thomas Perko (189) all went 3-0 on the day for BC while Zac Schreiber (125) was 2-0 and Zach Kein (130) went 2-1.
At Lake Park: The overall tournament champion was Libertyville, which piled up 229 points as 10 Wildcats wrestlers finished in the top three.
Elgin provided two of the top matches of the tournament. In the 160-pound title match, Terrell Walker showed devastating quickness and a wide repertoire of takedowns to earn a 24-8 technical fall over Kevin Vitols of Lake Park. At 189 Robert Hayes came out on top 12-9 over Addison Trail's Arber Bebo in a highly anticipated, extremely physical dual.
"(Walker) takes pride in his takedowns, and (Hayes) is just a beast," said Elgin coach Anthony Genovesi, whose squad came in 14th place with 55.5 points. "Two champions is good, but I want more place winners."
Streamwood, meanwhile, placed two in the top six, including Joey Kubica's wild fifth-place finish at 135 pounds.
The host Lancers placed second with 155.5 points.
Girls gymnastics
Elgin/Larkin at Lake Forest: The Elgin/Larkin co-op team took fourth place at the Lake Forest Invitational Saturday, scoring 84.80 points.
Andrea Vercelli scored an 8.235 in the all-around competition to finish fourth.
"We continue to show improvement," said Elgin/Larkin coach Bob Todd. "Lizzy Niles did real well all-around today."
Women's basketball
Black Hawk 59, ECC 50: Ariana Topps scored 15 points while Meaghan Staley-Gamble and Aly Del Fava added 11 each but Elgin Community College fell in this nonconference game.