Different look, same goal for Conant
Very little experience didn't stop Conant from going a long way last winter.
The Cougars repeated as Mid-Suburban League boys basketball champions for the first time. And this summer they're trying to build around a solid group of returnees to make a run at becoming the fifth team in league history to win three straight titles.
"It's a very, very different team than a year ago," said Conant coach Tom McCormack as his split squads were winning 2 games Tuesday night at the Harper College High School Summer League in Palatine. "There's a lot of learning and teaching going on and so far, so good."
Multi-talented all-area pick Tony Rizzo leads the returning group. Guards Tim Gilhooly and Cameron Leavitt and forward David Trinco all saw significant time for a 20-game winner and Tim Lomas figures to see more action inside.
"Guys are in completely different roles," McCormack said. "It takes awhile to learn how to do things together.
"What we're trying to figure out now is who is going to be the rotation of players and how much depth we've got."
The Cougars will have plenty of chances around the Chicago area to find out. They've been to Loyola and they'll face teams such as Simeon, Lincoln Park and Providence St. Mel at the Moody Bible Shootout this weekend.
They're also in shootouts at York and Brother Rice to see a wide variety of competition.
New-look Bison: A lot of new faces will try to sustain a tradition of four consecutive 20-win seasons and three straight regional titles at Buffalo Grove.
Junior guard Kevin Mulligan is the only returning starter and senior James Hurley saw significant time. One of the summer challenges is finding consistency with almost everyone in new roles.
"There's been a lot of teaching and tons to learn, but from a coaching point of view it's really been fun," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor, whose team rebounded from a 20-point loss to a strong Lake Zurich team to beat Hersey. "We're back to the basics and we've got to grow this summer as a team."
O'Connor also likes what he's seen from 6-foot-6 senior Matt Newman, who missed most of last winter because of injury.
"He'll be a nice contributor for us," O'Connor said.
Free throws: Fremd, Schaumburg, Hersey, Conant and Buffalo Grove are in the 14-team Tuesday schedule at Harper and Hoffman Estates, Wheeling, Elk Grove, Maine West, St. Viator and Rolling Meadows are in the 12-team Thursday schedule … Barrington, Prospect and Palatine are the only MSL teams not at Harper … Because of new bleacher construction at Buffalo Grove, the annual 16-team Bison Shootout will be held this weekend at Wheeling. There are games from 1p.m.-6 p.m. Friday. Games Saturday start at 10 a.m. with the championship at 3 p.m. … Construction has also forced Hersey to do everything this summer at Forest View.