Adams shares SCC player of the year; Mooseheart advances
Aurora Central Catholic Senior guard Mark Adams was named Suburban Catholic Conference co-Player of the Year by the member schools basketball coaches.
Adams shared the honor with Driscoll forward Jake Lindfors. Adams led the Chargers in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game, and was the Chargers' leading scorer in 19 of the 26 games. Aurora Central Catholic Junior Nick Czaja was also named SCC All-Conference.
The Chargers are 23-4, tying a school record for wins in a season. They will host the Class 3A regional at Alumni Gymnasium next week. The Chargers will open post-season play Tuesday against either Chicago (Orr) or Chicago (Hancock) at 7:30 p.m.
Mooseheart 63, North Shore Country Day 40:ŒOne of those oft-used phrases when basketball teams enter the postseason is how nothing that happened before matters -- all teams are 0-0 again.
And that statement is usually used by teams that have stuttered or sputtered through the regular season.
Mooseheart's boys basketball team reveled in its clean slate on Thursday, taking the court for the first time this postseason and claiming a 63-40 victory over North Shore Country Day.
Mooseheart (17-6) actually opened with a Tuesday win, but that came through a forfeit by Chicago Waldorf. Thursday's victory came on the court, which made it more real in every sense.
"Overall, it's not too bad," Mooseheart coach Jeff Perales said. "We've still got things to work on for (Friday.) Obviously the competition's going to much, much better."
Mooseheart plays host Westminster Christian for the IHSA Class 1A Regional title on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Ramblers have not played for a regional title since the 1963-64 season, when there was only one class in Illinois basketball.
"Every year, since freshman year, Floyd (Mays) and I, we've talked about going to state," Mooseheart senior Mike Tovar said. "We played this game like it was our last. We played with a lot of intensity."
Mooseheart and Westminster Christian played on Feb. 8, and the host Crusaders won 49-45.
"We weren't worried about Westminster," Tovar said. "We were worried about North Shore. We had to get past North Shore before we could get to Westminster."
Mooseheart led from start to finish and held a 31-21 lead at halftime. The backbreaking quarter was the third. The Ramblers found Tovar again and again inside. The senior forward scored 10 of his team-high 17 points as the Ramblers built a 48-31 edge.
"I knew eventually our quickness would take over and our strength would too," Perales said.
Tovar was limited in the first half due to foul trouble. He picked up his second foul midway through the second quarter and went to the bench.
The Ramblers got contributions from a number of players Ethan Grasty scored 6 of his 10 points in the second quarter. Dennis Davis had 8 of his 12 points in the first half. Chris Morones scored 6 points, but all came in the first half.
Mays was consistent, scoring 6 points in each half while running the Ramblers offense efficiently.
"We played really well as a team," Mays said. "We had a brotherhood. I felt like I didn't contribute the way I should have, but I'm glad my team did."
Jay Findlay led North Shore Country Day with a game-high 19 points.
-- Darryl Mellema
Hockey
Saints Win IHSL West: St. Charles East won its last 10 IHSL games, finishing with a 14-6 record and the third seed in the IHSL playoffs.
They wrapped up their regular season with a 6-1 win over Glenbard North. Josh Lorusso scored twice and had an assist and Kyle Sullivan assisted on two goals.
The Saints open up the IHSL playoffs on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. against an undetermined opponent at Center Ice of DuPage. They have an eight seed in the White Division of the state tournament. They will play at home on February 27 against Lake Zurich at 8:30 p.m. at Fox Valley.
• The Illinois Amateur Hockey Association (AHAI) will be participating in the Blackhawk Cup at the Fox Valley Ice Arena.
The Cyclones Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) will host 26 games from Feb. 21-Feb 26. Teams will be competing at the Midget Minor (U16) and Midget Major (U18) Tier II AA levels.
The round robin tournament will begin with games this evening and will conclude with the consolation games on Tuesday, with the majority of games being played Saturday and Sunday.
The winners will advance to the State Championships on March 1-2 at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville. For complete schedule information visit www.ahai.org or call the Cyclones at (630) 220-7825.
• The Cyclones Amateur Hockey Association will be holding their 2008 spring hockey registration this Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fox Valley Ice Arena.
For more information about Cyclones Hockey visit www.cycloneshockey.net. If you have any questions contact the Cyclones hockey director Frank Bisceglie at (630) 220-7825 or hockeydirector@cycloneshockey.net.