BC, Whips set to do it again
When Burlington Central hosted Big Northern rival Hampshire on Dec. 14, the Rockets jumped to a 14-0 lead, held a 27-point advantage at halftime and went on to win the Big Northern East game 64-45.
But Central (9-5, 1-0) isn't expecting as smooth a ride when the teams rematch in Hampshire Saturday night.
Suddenly hot Hampshire (7-8, 2-1) has won four straight. The Whip-Purs netted three of those victories while leading scorer T.J. Burzak was out with an eye injury. He has returned and Tuesday scored 8 points while Justin Bieber sank seven 3-pointers in a 53-36 win against Hinckley-Big Rock.
"We're playing a lot better," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. "Other guys stepped up when T.J. went down like Will Bush, Justin Bieber, Evan Brenner and Mike Kozenczak off the bench. Now, with T.J. back we're playing a lot smarter."
The Whips will have to contend with Central guard Mike McCurdy, the area's leading scorer (25.6 ppg.), Jason Wagner (12.6) and Jake McNutt (10.5).
"We know the game will be nothing like the first time we played," Central coach Chris Payne said. "Coach Barnett is going to make adjustments from that first game and Hampshire is certainly playing a lot better."
Jockeying for position:ŒTonight's game between Elgin (7-7, 1-1) and host South Elgin (8-8, 2-2) is critical to each team in terms of its Upstate Eight Conference standing and eventual regional seed.
Both squads will open the postseason at the six-team, Class 4A Larkin regional.
"We have to do everything we can to get wins against people in our regional," Storm coach Chaz Taft said. "We have to come out and play a very good game against a team with a lot of talent."
Lying in the weeds: This week's Associated Press rankings of Class 1A teams didn't include Westminster Christian (10-3), but coach Bruce Firchau doesn't mind the oversight, even though his Warriors went 7-1 in December and lost only to then-unbeaten Winnebago in the final of Marengo's holiday tournament.
"There's nothing wrong with flying under the radar a little bit," Firchau said this week. "I told our kids the only poll that matters is the last one."
The Warriors have gone 22-6 since they beat Hampshire a year ago at the Hampshire Lion's Club Holiday Tournament.
Who needs two on the aisle? Tickets went on sale this week at Jacobs High School for the 11th Annual Meijer High School Hoops Showdown on Jan. 19 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
The event begins at 4:30 p.m. with a girls game between Warren and defending state champion Fenwick, followed by an intriguing boys doubleheader.
At 6:30 p.m., Jacobs (13-1) -- the top-ranked team in the Daily Herald Top 20 -- will face Fenwick (8-5), which pulled off a 72-61 upset last weekend against Morton (11-3) in Oak Park.
"It's the kind of thing we're really excited to play in," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said of the event. "It's kind of like last year when we got to go down to Quincy and play Quincy, Centralia and Collinsville -- the three premier programs in the state.
"Now we've got three premier programs from this area, and we're added to the mix to see how we can compete. It is exciting."
The nightcap pits the No. 9 team in Class 4A, Batavia (13-2), against Marshall (10-3). The Commandoes are ranked No. 2 in Class 3A.
Tickets for the tripleheader are $13 for adults and $11 for students and are available for purchase at Jacobs High School weekdays from 7:30 a.m-4 p.m., at the Sears Centre box office, by calling 1-888-SEARSTIX or online at www.searscentre.com.
However, Jacobs has two big tests prior to the Fenwick showdown.
"I haven't even spoken to the kids about Fenwick yet because we have to go to Huntley (tonight) and we have to open (Valley Division play) next Friday against Cary-Grove, who's going to be a strong contender in the conference," Hinkle said.
"So we'll discuss Fenwick next Saturday morning. The Fenwick game becomes pretty meaningless if we don't take care of business in the two games before it. The timing of it is tough, but I'm still really glad for the opportunity."
Call in the cavalry:ŒIt has been a trying season for the Prairie Ridge basketball program at every level.
The varsity team's record stands at 2-15 after Tuesday's home loss against St. Charles North.
Unfortunately, there doesn't look to be much relief on the way. The sophomore team owns 1 victory and the freshmen recently won back-to-back games for their first victories of the season.
However, a lack of top prospects doesn't change coach Corky Card's barometer for measuring on-court success: "It's the same right now as it always is: If you play as hard as you can play and be as good as you can be, I can live with that."
Nice stat line I:ŒJacobs senior point guard John Moran is performing at the top of his game, as demonstrated by his statistics through 14 games, 13 of them victories: 18.6 points per game, 8.1 assists, 4.1 steals and 3.9 rebounds.
Moran is shooting 54 percent on 2-point attempts (68 of 127), 34 percent from 3-point range (26 of 76) and 85 percent from the free-throw line (46 of 54).
The Northern Iowa recruit's ratio of assists (113) to turnovers (36) is better than 3:1. "And sometimes his turnovers are because his teammates weren't on the same page and should have been," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle pointed out.
Nice stat line II:ŒBurlington Central senior guard Mike McCurdy is the prime weapon in coach Chris Payne's offense, a role reflected by his numbers through 13 games, 9 of them victories: 25.6 points per game and 4.9 assists.
The senior guard is shooting 48.6 percent from 2-point range (84 of 173), 25.5 percent on 3-point attempts (25 of 98) and 76.3 percent from the free-throw line (90 of 118).
Family matters:ŒBartlett sophomore Luke Labedzki on the special pain of losing at Fenton last Friday: "My Mom went to Fenton, so she loved it. That was not good. My whole family went there. It was just horrible."
Words of basketball inspiration:Œ"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best."
-- Tim Duncan