South Elgin primed to make run at UEC heavyweights

The road to first place in the Upstate Eight Conference runs through South Elgin.

Well positioned after a 3-0 start in UEC play, the league's newest boys basketball program will try to maintain its grip on first place with the two leading contenders scheduled to pay visits.

The key portion of South Elgin's schedule begins tonight with a first-place showdown against East Aurora (13-3, 2-0) and continues next Friday with a home date against Neuqua Valley (19-1, 4-1). East Aurora handed Neuqua Valley its only loss, 74-70, in overtime on Dec. 20.

The Tomcats' 12-game winning streak, which began at the St. Charles East Thanksgiving Tournament, ended last Saturday when rival West Aurora nipped East 66-64 in double overtime. East Aurora bounced back on Monday for a 54-48 victory over Lockport (8-4) at the Martin Luther King Shootout at Joliet Township.

Sophomore Ryan Boatright scored 24 points in that game to offset the absence of leading scorer Will Brown (20 ppg.), who reportedly sat out the game for disciplinary reasons.

"They're very athletic, very aggressive," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said of the Tomcats. "They lose (Andrew) Dockery from last year's team, but they have Will Brown playing real well and Boatright is much improved and playing a lot better."

The magnitude of a first-place game in mid-January is a new experience for the senior-heavy Storm. The varsity didn't finish above .500 overall in its first two seasons.

"I like our chances at home even though we haven't played at home much this month," Taft said. "I think the guys realize what's at stake here, a chance to play for sole possession of first place. And next week we have Neuqua Valley coming to town. That's going to be another great test to see where we're at."

The Storm opened the season 7-0 but have since gone 3-4, including a 65-55 loss at Maine East last Saturday. In that game South Elgin was whistled for 27 fouls, which resulted in 36 free-throw attempts for Maine East.

East Aurora's loss to West Aurora on Saturday was significant in that it marked the only game this season the Tomcats were beaten with their full complement of players. They lost the first two games of the season to St. Charles North and Proviso West with some key starters, Brown among them, not dressed.

Sectional rematch: Bartlett rode a hot streak all the way to a Class 4A sectional final last March, but the ride ended against Upstate Eight rival Neuqua Valley.

Those teams play for the first time since the Wildcats knocked off Bartlett 69-53 on March 7, 2008, when Neuqua Valley (19-1, 4-1) visits Bartlett (9-4, 2-1) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

"The kids are focused on it," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said on Tuesday. "The fact that it's a rematch of the sectional final last year is a factor and the fact that it's two teams that are toward the top of the conference fighting for that next rung up the ladder - that's got us focused. Right now we're doing well. Practices have been solid."

Much of that practice time has been devoted to defense. The Hawks followed their second 4-game winning streak of the season with recent losses to St. Charles North (71-59) and Crystal Lake South (69-65, OT).

Bartlett bounced back on Saturday to beat Wheaton North 82-73, but its average of 71 points allowed over three games had to be addressed, especially since Neuqua Valley scores at a clip of 70.1 points per game.

"My biggest concern coming into the Neuqua game is, defensively, where are we at?" Wolfsmith said. "St. Charles North scored a boatload on us, Crystal Lake South scored their points - it took them overtime, but still - they're not a high-scoring team traditionally. Even Wheaton North scored 70 against us, 40 in the first half.

"I don't want to go into the Neuqua game with the defense not focused because that's where they kill you. They kill you with execution on offense. If you're not prepared for what they're going to run, what they do and what they look for, then you put yourself in the position of being run out of the gym very early."

Royal road trip: Larkin (6-10, 1-2) plays a UEC road game at St. Charles North (11-5, 3-1) tonight at 7:15 p.m. The Royals are seeking their first win of 2009 (0-3). The North Stars are 4-0 in January with wins against Elgin, Bartlett, Geneva and Kankakee.

It all works out: Hampshire (9-6, 3-0) figured it would be a Class 2A school this season, so the program didn't schedule any games after Feb. 20. However, the Whip-Purs were left with an unwanted week off when they were elevated to Class 3A by the IHSA last summer.

As luck would have it, the Whips' game against Richmond-Burton was postponed last Friday due to the frigid weather. The remake has been scheduled for Monday, Feb. 23, which will give Hampshire an opportunity to keep the rust off before the playoffs begin a week later.

"It was too late to schedule any games once we found out we were 3A," Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. "This is good. Otherwise it would have been about a 12-day layoff."

Weekend highlights: Elgin (6-10, 1-2), which has dropped 4 of its last 5 games, will play at dangerous St. Charles East (3-12, 1-3) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Saints lost their first 11 games of the season but have since won 3 of 4, including a 64-51 win over Glenbard West last Saturday... St. Edward (6-11, 2-5) will host St. Francis (9-6, 4-3) in a Suburban Catholic Conference game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Green Wave have dropped 3 straight, most recently, a 47-23 loss to Immaculate Conception last Saturday. The Spartans had won 6 out of 7 before Monday's 57-49 loss to Farragut at the MLK Dream Classic. St. Edward will play at Marian Central (7-11, 1-5) on Saturday at 6 p.m. That SCC game had to be rescheduled due to subzero temperatures last Friday... Following a Big Northern Conference crossover tonight at Stillman Valley (2-13), Hampshire (9-6, 3-0) will look to maintain a share of first place with Richmond-Burton in the BNC-East on Saturday at 7 p.m., when the Whip-Purs play at North Boone (6-7, 1-1). Hampshire has won 4 straight... A full slate of conference games in the Fox and Valley Divisions of the Fox Valley Conference is highlighted by two key games: Dundee-Crown (10-4, 1-0) visits Crystal Lake South (10-7, 0-1) in a Valley contest; Huntley (11-6, 1-0) travels to Grayslake Central (11-6, 1-0) in the Fox.

Going out of business - all wins must go: It went under the radar, but the soon-to-be-defunct Private School League went 4-0 in nonconference games on Tuesday: Westminster Christian (11-6) beat Harvard 50-42; Chicago Christian (9-7) defeated Lemont 54-41; Illiana Christian (8-7) knocked off Andrew 48-45; and Timothy Christian (11-5) blew out Fenton 54-36.

Those wins improved the combined nonconference record of PSL teams to 60-44 this season, led by Westminster Christian's 10-3 mark.

The Warriors host a tough PSL game tonight against first-place Wheaton Academy (9-4, 3-0) at 7:30 p.m.