Relax -- plenty more hoops to come

How a boys basketball team plays over the holidays is important, but not book-hotel-reservations-in-Peoria important.

Let's face it, there are still two months of basketball to be played in the regular season and most teams haven't even approached the heart of their conference schedules yet.

So, while a good performance over the holidays is encouraging, making any predictions about a team's future based on last week would be foolish. Between injured players coming and going and backups emerging late in the season, teams have a tendency to look a whole lot different from December to March.

A couple of things stood over the holidays, however, particularly when it came to the play of Jacobs, Bartlett and Elgin.

Jacobs (12-1) looked like a championship caliber team in its victory over St. Charles North in the title game of its own tournament last Saturday night.

If you're just a casual fan of the high school game who takes in a prep contest only every so often, do yourself a favor and get out to see this team led by senior guard John Moran because they are just plain fun to watch.

I've been covering prep sports for this newspaper for seven years and I've never seen a player quite like Moran. It's like a man playing against boys when he's in full "Johnny" mode. No one plays with his combination of grit, style and vision.

I've gotten in the habit of not looking down at my scorebook immediately after an opponent scores against Jacobs because you just know Moran is going to answer with a jaw-dropper.

Maybe he'll shoot a 3-pointer, maybe he'll execute one of his Jordan-esque reverse layups under the basket, or perhaps he'll zip a no-look pass on the fast break to center Conrad Krutwig for a slam dunk.

Whatever Moran chooses he's usually right, and the result is fun to watch.

Winning the title at Jacobs again was nice, but the Golden Eagles, who had just 1 loss going into the playoffs last year before they were beaten in the regional title game by host Dundee-Crown, won't feel truly vindicated in their own minds unless they win a the regional at Crystal Lake South, win the sectional at their place and go on to win the supersectional at NIU.

Yes, winning the holiday tournament by crushing a decent St. Charles North team 82-53 was fun, but Jacobs' was probably a little surprised they got such a scare from a good Bartlett team, which nearly knocked off the hosts in pool play before falling by 59-56.

Bartlett (10-4) emerged over the holidays as a team to be feared.

The Hawks already had three top-notch talents in 6-9 center Kamil Janton (Eastern Michigan), 6-5 guard/forward Cory Hrynyk and tough-as-nails sophomore guard Luke Labedski, all three of whom can score.

Added to that mix is point guard Marc Little, who is an absolute difference maker Upstate Eight teams are going to hate playing against.

Little became eligible in early December after the IHSA approved his transfer. He had previously played at Driscoll and Addison Trail in his first two high school seasons before he moved in with his grandfather in Hanover Park and transferred to Bartlett.

Little may look young with braces on his teeth, but don't be fooled; he possesses a mature basketball acumen.

He's a great defender who will steal the ball if given any opening, and he's as dangerous on the fast break with the ball in his hands as any guard this side of John Moran. And he's only a junior.

The Hawks also have Mike Selvaggi at forward, who is backed up by barrell-chested, cement-armed forward Derrick Coleman, another revelation. He didn't play as a junior, but his strength and hustle have been welcome additions.

And tough? No joke -- there was one game I covered at the Jacobs tournament where Coleman had the other team completely intimidated because they knew they had no chance of getting his big body boxed out. You don't usually see fear on a basketball player's face, but one of the teams Coleman beat up on at Jacobs was clearly afraid to challenge him and it was obvious.

The local team scratching its head post-holiday is Elgin (6-7). The Maroons had high hopes of competing for the title at its annual tournament, but instead finished 1-3.

It would be too easy, not to mention premature, to call this team of talented veterans underachieving, however.

It's more accurate to say Elgin is a team still trying to find itself, and there's still time to do that under new coach Mike Sitter, an assistant varsity coach who took over five days before the season opener when Rob Brault was let go.

They remind me a lot of the Larkin team of 2004-05 that struggled all year before reaching the Sweet 16.

I'm not saying these Maroons will catch lightning in a bottle like that Larkin team, but they could. Remember: Larkin had what everyone believed to be the most talented team in the area that year, led by guard Dayvon Ellis and forward Carliss Henderson. Yet, the Royals entered the playoffs with a disappointing record (12-15).

But when it counted, everything clicked for that team. They got hot at the right time and made a run to the Sweet 16, mainly because they played with the urgency coach Joe Kain pulled his hair out trying to get them to play with throughout the regular season.

Can this Elgin team follow suit? Only time will tell, but they do have the athletes and the ability. The question the Maroons have have to ask themselves is how bad do they want it?

Are they going to sit and mope and point fingers after losing six of their last seven games, or are they going to point thumbs at themselves and concentrate as individuals on what each player can do to help this team compete with the best in the area when it matters in March?

We won't know that answer until March.