Westminster plays tough, takes 2nd at Marengo
Westminster Christian senior Tyler Beachler has a vivid memory of Winnebago.
As a sophomore, Beachler traveled to Winnebago to participate in the 3-point shootout. Although he did not advance past the Winnebago supersectional, Beachler remembered how the Indians' fans supported their team, which was in the midst of a state championship season.
Beachler imagined the day his Class 1A Warriors' team -- which finished that year 5-21 -- would be able to compete with the Class 3A Indians.
Saturday night it happened. Bealcher and teammate Joel Benson left Winnebago's large crowd in near silence as Westminster slugged out the championship game of the E.C. Nichols Holiday Tournament in Marengo.
Although Westminster's day to run with the Indians had come, it could not stop Winnebago from claiming its fifth-straight tournament championship 53-44.
"Everyone but us expected a blowout," said Beachler, who finished with 10 points. "It's like two different sides of the spectrum. We shocked their team and everyone in the stands."
Benson, who finished with a game-high 23 points, certainly did.
The senior, who gave up at least 4 inches on the Indians front court of Jake Spencer (6-8) and Bruce Polkowski (6-5), scored 20 of the Warriors' 29 first-half points. Benson scored by drilling the ball right at the Indians' twin towers and sent Westminster (9-3) tied going into the second half.
"(Benson) was too quick for us inside the post," Winnebago coach Joe Murphy said. "We had a height advantage, but he was too quick."
Winnebago made adjustments in the second half.
Benson (10 rebounds) was 8 of 13 in the first half, but was held to 1 of 5 from the floor in the second half. So when Winnebago (12-0) adjusted, so did Westminster.
The Warriors were as close as 46-42 when sophomore Ryan Beachler grabbed a steal and ran the length of the court with 1:50 reaming in the game.
Westminster forced Polkowski into a tough shot on the next trip down the floor, but Heath Hoffman (22 points) nabbed the offensive rebound and put in to extend the lead back to 6. Forced to foul, Hoffman made 3 of 4 free throws putting Westminster down 51-42 with 32 seconds left.
The task of guarding the much taller Indians eventually took its toll on Westminster, who lost the offensive rebounding battle 6-0 in the second half. Winnebago also outscored Westminster 11-5 in the third quarter and 24-15 in the second half.
"I thought we played really good defense, we just lost our legs at the end," Benson said.
With the two-year goal of playing with Winnebago now past, Westminster isn't worried about just keeping a game with the Indians respectable any more.
"This is part of the greatness of the program," Westminster coach Bruce Firchau said. "Now we have to set our sights even higher."
Boys basketball
Belvidere 78, Burlington Central 72: Not even die-hard shop-aholics who scour retail stores for bargains sunup until sundown have remained as busy post-Christmas as the Burlington Central boys basketball team.
The Rockets played their fourth game in 40 hours Saturday and fifth in four days, a slate that included four games at the DeKalb Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament and a squeezed-in victory over Oregon at the United Center on Friday.
While fatigue was certainly a factor late in Central's DeKalb tournament finale against Belvidere Saturday afternoon -- "My legs were definitely gone," said Central senior guard Mike McCurdy, who managed to score 29 points despite missing his last 10 shot attempts -- it wasn't the deciding factor in the Rockets' 78-72 loss to the Bucs.
Foul trouble was Burlington Central's more pressing concern.
The Rockets (8-4, 2-3 at DeKalb) opened the game in an aggressive man-to-man defense that forced 8 Belvidere turnovers in the first half and helped Central bolt to an 11-2 lead.
But Burlington Central accumulated fouls faster than Donald Trump acquires property and was soon forced to loosen its defensive grip.
"It's the third game in a row over here that's been called pretty tightly early, and that takes away our aggressiveness," Central coach Chris Payne said. "We can't really do the things we normally do because we've been in such foul trouble."
Belvidere (8-6) rallied to take a 31-28 halftime lead, then kicked its offense into high gear in the third quarter when Burlington Central was forced to play zone defense with forwards Jason Wagner and Shane Larkin each saddled with 4 fouls.
Belvidere dissected Central's rarely implemented zone for 20 second-half buckets in 38 attempts (53 percent).
"They started playing zone in the second half, and we knew we were bigger and more physical, so we just had to get it into the paint," said Belvidere senior Josh Easley, who scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. "We were just taking it to the hole, getting fouled and making our free throws.
With Central's forwards on the brink of disqualification, Belvidere out-rebounded the Rockets 48-26 and scored 11 baskets after offensive rebounds.
"Me and Jason are usually very aggressive on the boards, especially offensively, but we couldn't really be as aggressive because we were worried about being in foul trouble," said Larkin, who finished with 6 rebounds.
The Rockets trailed by 12 points with three minutes to play but were able to pull within 75-72 on Mike McCurdy's 2 free throws with 45.3 seconds left in the game.
After a Belvidere missed shot at the other end, Mike McCurdy had a chance to tie the game but his 3-point attempt wouldn't fall with 26 seconds left. The Bucs then sealed the win with a long inbounds pass to Brandon Fowler, who drew Wagner's fifth foul while laying the ball in.
-- Jerry Fitzpatrick
Niles North 65, Streamwood 44: Despite a big game from Tem Esikiel, who tallied 17 points, Streamwood (3-12) dropped this closing contest at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic. T.J. Enno contributed with 11 points.
Hampshire 49, Marengo 46: Outscoring Marengo 19-12 in the fourth quarter, Hampshire (4-8) pulled out this victory in the E.C. Nichols Tournament at Marengo. Justin Bieber (13 points) and Mike Kozenczak (12 points) led the Whips' offensive attack.
Hampshire 55, Harvard 49: Down by one going into halftime, the Whip-Purs (5-8) came out strong in the second half to hold off Harvard and earn their second victory of the day at the E.C. Nichols tournament in Marengo. Will Bush led the offensive attack with 23 points. Mike Kozenczak added 12 points and Evan Brenner chipped in 10 points all in the second half.
Westminster Christian 57, Kaneland 48: Westminster Christian (9-2) advanced to the title game with this 57-48 win over Kaneland in the E.C. Nichols tournament at Marengo behind double-digit scoring from Joel Benson (22 points), Cory Hodge (17 points) and Tyler Beachler (12 points).
Kirkland-Hiawatha 48, Elgin Academy 31: The Hilltoppers came up short falling to Kirkland-Hiawatha in the Durand Holiday Classic. Cory Ebert and Javon McDonald led the offensive attack scoring 9 points and 7 points respectively.
Elgin Academy 52, Paw-Paw 38: Despite losing game one at the Durand Holiday Classic, the Hilltoppers (2-10) bounced back in the afternoon to earn a victory and go 1-1 on the day. Javon McDonald paced Elgin Academy with 18 points while Cory Ebert chipped in 12 points for the win.
Willowbrook 48, South Elgin 45: The Storm (7-8) fell just short in their final game of the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York. Adam Hodge led the Storm offensively with 17 points.
Huntley 62, Harlem 61: The Red Raiders (10-4) pulled off an exciting victory in the 80th Chuck Dayton Tournament at DeKalb Saturday afternoon. Mike Gonzaga (13 points), Dan Regan (12 points), and Tommy Giordano (12 points) led Huntley.
Girls basketball
West Aurora 47, Jacobs 46: When you win by 1 point in overtime, there are so many turning points and potential "key moments" that it's almost impossible to recount them all.
But West Aurora finished a scrambling performance with one final surge inside the final half-minute of overtime to tip Jacobs 47-46 for the West Aurora Bill Neibch Classic consolation title.
"It seemed like we were always down and catching up," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said.
Though there were still some rough spots, the Blackhawks (9-6) were much more cohesive in Saturday's contest than they were in Wednesday's tournament opener.
Tyranza McGowan's free throws were key -- she made 2-of-5 in the overtime and hit the 2 free throws, in separate shooting situations, that gave the Blackhawks a 47-44 lead with 11 seconds left.
And when McGowan missed after putting her team up 46-44, Devin Vaughn grabbed the rebound and fed McGowan, who was fouled.
Jacobs worked hard to keep Kyra Watson under wraps under the basket. As a result, Watson finished with 7 points and struggled with foul trouble through the game.
Kiana Towles stepped into the scoring leadership role. She scored 15 points before fouling out late in overtime.
Jacobs' Markie Rahn caused problems all night with her inside moves and her mid-range shooting ability. She had 15 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 24.
-- Darryl Mellema
Willowbrook 58, Elgin 22: Elgin (0-15) fell behind early and never bounced back in this tournament closing loss in the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic at Wheaton North. Giselle Bruskewitz led Elgin's offense with 6 points.
Payton 51, Streamwood 50: Trailing 33-28 going into the fourth quarter, Streamwood (2-14) battled back to bring this contest into overtime at 42-42 in the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic. In the end, Payton prevailed 51-50. Despite the loss, the Sabres had timely scoring from Krissy Kunavich (15 points), Emma Schmidt (10 points) and Melissa Oehlerking (9 points).
Vernon Hills 58, Prairie Ridge 57: Coming down to the final seconds, Prairie Ridge (6-10) lost a heartbreaker falling to Vernon Hills 58-57 in the final quarter of play in the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic. Shannon Hennelly had a big day leading all scorers with 21 points, including five from behind the arc. Jessie Kulovsek added 11 points for the Wolves.
Cary-Grove 60, Conant 58: The Trojans (12-3) earned a thrilling overtime victory over Conant to take third place in the final day of the Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic in Mundelein. Cary-Grove used a well-balanced attack as Jamie Kuhl (12 points), Jill Cole (11 points), Danielle Smith (11 points), and Meg Straumann (11 points) all scored double digit figures to lead the Trojans to the win.
St. Edward 58, St. Francis de Sales 19: The Green Wave (7-4) broke out to a fast start and never looked back scoring 27 first-quarter points to St. Francis de Sales' zero points leading them to victory. St. Edward saw all 11 players who played score at least 1 point in the game. Leading the balanced attack were Katie Yohn (21 points) and Celeste VonAhnen (18 points).
Larkin 54, West Chicago 38: The Royals (3-12) showed a strong offensive performance on the last day of the Oswego East Holiday Classic scoring double digits in all four quarters. For the second night in a row, Alyssa Burns scored 21 points to lead Larkin offensively and added 6 steals on the defensive side. The Royals also got a strong performance out of Jessica Harris who was the only other Royal to hit double digits with 15 points.
Mundelein 55, Huntley 39: Shannon Callahan led the Red Raiders (9-5) offensively with 10 points in their loss to host Mudelein in the Lady Mustang Holiday Classic. Megan Martinez chipped in 9 points in the loss.
South Elgin 59, Kaneland 55: The Storm (8-8) exploded in the fourth quarter to earn a come-from-behind victory in its final game at the Oswego East Holiday Classic. Alexa Kruel (16 points), Genevieve Johnson (13 points), and Dijon Smith (13 points) paced South Elgin offensively in the win.
Men's basketball
Judson 76, Indiana-South Bend 70: Making 87 percent of their free throws, the Judson University Eagles (7-5) held off the University of Indiana-South Bend.. Judson went 20 of 23 from the free throw line with three players not missing a shot from the stripe.
For the second game in a row, senior Chris Oates of Streamwood led Judson with 23 points. DeWayne Robinson also scored 23.