Mustangs savoring a very special season

No, the Mundelein boys basketball team isn't playing a college schedule. But it sure seems like it based on the venues of many of its games.

Earlier this month, the Mustangs jetted off to Arizona for a holiday trip that would rival that of any college team.

While out west, they played two games and, well, just played. They went to a college football bowl game, visited the Grand Canyon and got plenty of pool time.

Now, the 14-4 Mustangs, who are near the top of the North Suburban Conference Lake Division standings, are gearing up for another exciting part of their schedule.

Starting on Saturday when they take on Morgan Park at North Park College (note that the game was moved from Sunday), Mundelein will play one of three games that will take place on either a college or professional court.

The game at North Park College is part of a special city-suburban shootout that is held in the memory of Ronald "Chops" Billinger, a Chicago area hoops guru who had connections with just about everyone in the area before dying a few years ago at the age of 30.

On Jan. 27, the Mustangs will take on Lakes at the United Center in an annual promotion that allows local high school teams to play games there before Chicago Bulls games.

Then, on Feb. 10, Mundelein will take on Morton at Loyola University as part of an eight-team shootout.

"I've always wanted to do stuff like this," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "I just want to make basketball an experience our kids will never forget. Too many times when you get to be my age, you'll say, 'Oh yeah, I played basketball in high school,' and that's all you'll have to say about it. But how many people will forget getting to play a game on the same court as Michael Jordan, or taking a trip to Arizona, or playing at Loyola?

"I just want to do as many neat things as we can. I want to make our program different and special. I want to do things that other people don't, and I think we are. I know our kids all think it's really cool."

Rochon's role:ŒJust about every game, Mundelein senior guard Andy Rochon is good for about 7 assists, 2 to 3 steals and stifling defense all over the perimeter.

But what doesn't get on the stat sheet is perhaps what makes Rochon the most valuable.

"He's probably the best point guard I've ever had in terms of his leadership and having a good sense and awareness of what the team needs at a particular time," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "I just like the way Andy is so vocal, and you need that out of your point guard.

"He's stopped practice before, which is something we've given guys like him the right to do, to give suggestions or to encourage the guys. He's out there as much as (the coaches) are trying to make sure that the guys play hard."

Tough stretch: It looked like Libertyville was peaking last week.

The Wildcats beat North Suburban Conference heavyweight Warren after having beaten Stevenson in their previous game.

But then they dropped two straight games to Lake Forest and North Chicago to finish up a brutal three-game week.

Originally, the Warren game was supposed to be played earlier in the season, but it had been rescheduled.

"That was a really tough week and on top of it, our guys were in finals," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "I think we just ran out of gas and I could tell. Our guys looked tired and some of them even told me they had been up late all week studying. So to have three games on top of that is hard."

Tell me how: Despite losing to North Chicago last week, Libertyville was impressive enough to draw all kinds of praise from opposing coaches.

After all, the Wildcats held North Chicago, a team averaging about 80 points per game, to just 12 points in the first half.

"It was kind of funny, I got a few e-mail from other coaches and they were like 'How did you do that? What did you do?'" Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "We just played our game, good solid defense. We're so long and athletic that we can give a lot of teams trouble. We can cause a lot of disruptions. We were up 25-12 at halftime but just couldn't put the ball in the basket enough ourselves. That's been a problem all season for us."

Bogumil says that 6-foot-6 junior center Jeremy Letchford has been one of the few exceptions. He's been shooting the ball well all season.

He had 22 points against Loyola at the Wheeling holiday tournament and was key in Libertyville's win over Warren.

"Jeremy is just finishing really well and he's a big body in there," Bogumil said. "The post game is kind of a lost (art) in high school basketball, so we've really been trying to take advantage of that this season with Jeremy."

Chairman of the board: Heading into the season, playing time figured to be a big question mark for Grant junior Gilbert Sheehan.

With a core group of veterans back, he seemed destined to be a role player.

But now, Grant coach Phil Ralston can't afford to keep him off the floor. Sheehan leads the team with about 6 rebounds per game.

"He's been our unsung hero this season," Ralston said. "It's been amazing how he's rebounded the ball. He is just so aggressive on the boards, relentless. He gets a lot of offensive rebounds and he has been really strong in the post.

"He's only about 6-foot-2. But I believe if he keeps this up, he's going to be, for his size, one of the best post players in Lake County."

Join the club: Kudos to Grant guard Mike Shields, who reached the 1,000-point club last week against Vernon Hills.

He now has 1,018 career points and ranks sixth all-time on Grant's points list.

"It's really a compliment to Mike," Grant coach Phil Ralston said. "Not many kids in the 75 years of Grant basketball have reached that milestone. He's had a great career -- three great years as a varsity starter."

Ralston says that at his current pace, Shields may even be able to move up a few more spots on the all-time points list before he finishes he career.

Is that it? Grayslake Central is avoiding the rust factor, but just barely.

Because of a quirk in their schedule, the Rams have played just one game each week over the last three weeks -- down from the normal two to even three games most teams play each week.

This week, Grayslake Central's only game is against visiting Johnsburg on Saturday.

"You almost feel like it's football season -- and that's hard for a basketball team," Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen said. "Basketball teams need to be running and moving and making cuts and doing all the things that you do in games. The kids are getting a little antsy."

Bowen says the coaches are, too -- and that constructing practices can be a challenge.

The 11-4 Rams have been using the added practice days to work on very specific individual skills while still trying to maintain a lively atmosphere.

"When you have that many practice days in a row, you get concerned about doing things to try to keep the intensity level up to where it would be if you were playing a normal amount of games," Bowen said. "But at the same time, you don't want to get anyone hurt."

And injuries have been an issue for the Rams this season.

"We've had a couple of guys get banged up a bit," said Bowen, referring to Andrew Sipes (foot), Alex Anderson (ankle) and Mike Brumm (thigh bruise). "So we've also tried using the extra practices to give our guys some time to rest a bit.

"We've tried to get the most out of these practices, but you'd still rather be playing more games. We really want to get back into our normal routine."

The Rams will start Fox Valley Conference division play next week and will have two games each week for the rest of the season."

Nice surprise: Grayslake Central senior Mike Davis is going out with a bang.

The hot-shooting guard is averaging about 11 points per game and has been the Rams' leading scorer in a few games this season. In the team's last game, a win over Woodstock, he scored a career- and game-high 23 points, which included a 10-for-10 performance from the free throw line.

Not bad for someone who was pegged as more of a role player at the beginning of the season.

"Mike has been a big surprise to us," Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen said. "We didn't really expect him to be a double-figure scorer for us. But we're glad he is. He's doing a great job and is playing so well right now."

No outsiders: Now it's time for Grayslake Central to get down to business.

Not that the Rams weren't taking their games seriously before.

But starting next week, they will be knee-deep in the meat of their season. That's when Fox Valley Conference Fox Division games begin.

From then on, only one of the Rams' remaining games is against a school outside of the Fox Division. And that's a Jan. 29 tilt against Vernon Hills.

Meanwhile, most conferences have been playing conference or division games for a month now and will have nonconference games sprinkled in for the rest of the season.

"It is different, but I kind of like (having the division schedule so condensed) because pretty much everything we do from now on will be focused on the division," Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen said. "We've got to be up for every game and every game means something and you want to be playing (under those conditions) toward the end of the season when you get close to the (state) tournament."

How handy: Call it body art for the goal-oriented.

Before every game, Antioch senior guard Lamarr Pottinger writes down his three goals for the evening. On his hand.

"Lamarr is a different breed of kid," Antioch coach Mike Skinner said. "He's very intense. I didn't even know he was writing stuff on his hand until about four games ago. But I'm not surprised. He's just like that, very focused on basketball and his goals. He doesn't accept less than 100 percent from himself and he's always wanting to know what he can do to help the team."

Skinner says that Pottinger has written words like "Shot Selection," "Lock-down Defense," and "Leadership" on his hand and that when the rest of the players on the team noticed what he was doing, they wanted in on the ritual, too.

"Lamarr had a meeting in the back of the bus on the way to one of our games," Skinner said. "Then, all of a sudden, I'm seeing marker on the other kids' hands. We didn't win the game that night, but we played better."