Matchups live up to Classic billing

Two of the weekend's top boys basketball games are smack-dab in the middle of the annual Downers North Classic this Saturday.

Hinsdale Central takes on Glenbard East at 4 p.m., followed by Downers Grove South versus Naperville Central at 5:30 p.m.

Along with a girls game between Downers North and Hinsdale South at 12:30 p.m., the shootout also offers Westmont against Nazareth boys at 2 p.m. and the host Trojans against Vince Doran's Hinsdale South boys at 7 p.m.

"Those two games before, they've got great players, great teams, good coaches," said Downers North coach Jim Thomas. "There's not much more you could ask for right there sitting back-to-back. Those four teams could make some noise in the postseason."

"We're hoping that we can just compete," said Hinsdale Central coach Ed Lynch, whose 7-5 Red Devils will try to earn a little respect from Glenbard East, which faces Glenbard North in a DuPage Valley Conference game Friday.

"Any team that can play in the DuPage Valley Conference and play in the tournaments they play in and be 12-3 speaks volumes of what kind of team Glenbard East is," Lynch said.

Thomas called Naperville Central guard Drew Crawford a possible Mr. Basketball candidate. The Northwestern-bound senior and pals Danny Ondik and David Mallett will go against Downers South's three-headed monster of Malcolm Herron, Bledar Dervishi and Julius Staisiunas and will feature the last appearance at the shootout by retiring Mustangs coach Paul Runyon.

"I feel like it's going to be a good draw," Thomas said. "Those Glenbard East and Naperville games, they're going to be some heavyweights going at it."

Out of the frying pan: After winning its first three games of the season, Wheaton Warrenville South hasn't won or lost more than two games in a row. The trend continued last weekend as the Tigers faced their toughest doubleheader of the entire campaign.

In back-to-back DuPage Valley Conference games, WW South (8-6, 2-3) on Friday scored a rare victory at West Aurora before facing unbeaten DVC leader Naperville Central Saturday in Wheaton.

Although the Tigers fell 54-46 to the Redhawks, coach Mike Healy was pleased with the way his team survived the grueling weekend.

"It definitely wasn't a step backward for us - it was a step forward," he said. "I've got a lot of confidence in this group. They put in a great effort every single day."

The Tigers spent the bulk of last week preparing for the West Aurora game, where Healy said his team put in its best defensive performance in years in a 50-43 win.

On the bus ride to Aurora Healy gave the players the Naperville Central scouting report to review and then spent Saturday preparing for the quick turnaround against the Redhawks. The players came in at 5:15 p.m., practiced until 6 p.m. and then watched tape leading up to the 7:30 p.m. start time.

"We wanted them to come in as late as possible because of the amount of effort they exuded (Friday) night," Healy said. "The more time they had to rest and recuperate, we thought it'd be more beneficial."

Back on top: Last Friday's win over Yorkville, combined with Geneva's loss to Sycamore, put Glenbard South in an unfamiliar spot - in first place alone atop the Western Sun Conference standings.

Excited at the time, the Raiders also knew the challenge that awaited them.

"That was good to know," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. "But by the same token it wakes you up right away because Sycamore was coming here the next night."

If anything, though, facing the team that just beat Geneva proved to be the perfect motivation. After beating Yorkville 86-57 last Friday, the Raiders (11-3, 6-1) claimed a 72-58 victory Saturday over Sycamore to cement their first-place position.

"For the first time this season I felt like we were in control for four quarters in both games," Hardtke said.

Glenbard South is a game ahead of Geneva heading into tonight's game against Kaneland. DeKalb has only one Western Sun loss after Wednesday's victory against Batavia, but the Barbs are a game behind in the win column.

With several teams bunched together near the top, the remainder of the conference schedule should be interesting. Glenbard South has a bit of an advantage in the waning weeks because they'll face Kaneland, Geneva, Batavia and Rochelle at home.

In fact, heading into last weekend the Raiders had played only one home game. The Raiders are hopeful the early road grind early will pay off late.

"We switched to being the hunted," Hardtke said. "Hopefully we can get the job done."

District 204 crush: Tickets will go on sale one hour before tipoff for the Waubonsie Valley-Neuqua Valley boys and girls basketball games at Neuqua. There will be no ticket pre-sales.

Doors open at 5 p.m. Friday for the boys game, and at noon Saturday for the girls - an hour before the sophomore games are scheduled to start.

Nice lines: St. Francis guard Dave Palash got it done in a variety of ways last week.

In a 54-42 Spartans win over Marian Central, the senior scored 18 points with 8 steals and 4 assists. The next night he scored 16 points with 5 steals and 5 assists in a 52-33 win over Montini.

Stars yet to align: It takes a strong group, and a strong coach, to keep it together through a 1-12 start.

It appears Montini has the strength, at least hearing first-year Broncos coach Brian Opoka.

"We are in a position that no team wants to be in, where we're at record-wise," Opoka said after Montini lost 41-33 to Driscoll on Friday.

"My kids have not quit, they will not quit," he said. "They just keep throwing their heart on the line, playing against bigger opponents and throwing the haymaker. Maybe they get a shot at knocking one of the giants out, maybe not."

That's a metaphor but no exaggeration. Against Driscoll, Montini sent tough-as-nails Anthony Blashewski - generously listed at 6-foot-1 - a pair of 5-9 guards and 6-2 Zach Brash against 6-7 Matt Kaban at various times.

It's not a good shooting team - 32 percent from the floor, 55 percent from the line - and the Broncos average less than 19 rebounds a game.

Yet Montini's battling boys have apparently won over more than their appreciative coach.

"I think we're fun to watch," Opoka said. "I think our fans get into us. We're an underdog in every game we play and everybody in the gym seems to start rooting for us - even on the opposing team - because we just play our tails off."