First annual free throw fundraiser a success
Like most days, area teams spent a good portion of their practices Wednesday working on free throws.
Only this day, they did it for a cause greater than themselves.
St. Charles North, St. Charles East, Geneva, Batavia, Marmion, St. Francis, Rosary, Kaneland and West Aurora were among the schools across Illinois that participated in the first Free Throws for Heroes.
Girls and boys, freshman through seniors united statewide, each shooting 50 free throws while collecting pledges from friends and family to raise money for families of active and veteran Illinois military families in need.
Geneva coach Phil Ralston said his program set a goal of raising $250 and he expects to pass that.
"We are still tallying up our numbers," Ralston said. "I'm sure we raised several hundreds of dollars. One kid's pledge sheet had $74, most $10-20."
Charity Stripe Executive Director Mitch Salzstein saw a dream 2 1/2 years in the making come true.
Snowed in at an airport a few years back, Salzstein observed an angry customer at the ticket counter screaming and complaining that he had to get home. Watching someone get so upset at the thought of a two-hour delay, his mind quickly went to daily news reports of United States troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan whose return to the states could be delayed months, sometimes years.
And so Salzstein created Charity Stripe, a 501c3 not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to raising funds for American families in need who are experiencing financial hardship due to military service.
His vision was to see America's basketball coaches, teams, players and fans come together for a series of rotating annual charitable free throw shooting events.
"This seems to be worthwhile charity, and from our perspective it's nice we have a community that can provide and do that," said Ralston. "I just encouraged other schools in our district, and I think we had 10 different schools. I think it's great, it's nice to see that."
Friday night showdown: Ralston had more on his mind in practice than helping a good cause. The Vikings are preparing for a trip to Western Sun Conference leader Glenbard South Friday night.
The Raiders are a game and a half ahead of Geneva, tied with DeKalb with 1 conference loss but with three more wins. The only team to beat Glenbard South? That would be Geneva back in December in overtime.
"It's a vital game as far as conference goes," Ralston said. "What we've told our kids is we want to be in control of our destiny. For us to be in control we have to win Friday. If we lose Friday, we need other teams to bail us out."
Glenbard South leads the conference with an 8-1 record, followed by DeKalb at 5-1 and Geneva at 6-2. Batavia is 4-3.
"It's quite possible for the conference champ to have 3-4 losses but we don't want other people to bail us out. We know it's going to be a tough game. We've already beat them, we think there's things we do that give teams trouble," said Ralston, who added he has been impressed with his first look at the Western Sun.
"I don't know if our conference is recognized as a basketball conference, but Rochelle doesn't have a win and they are a team that scares the dickens out of me. We've got lots of competitive teams, and I think the upper end of our conference there are four pretty good teams."
Rave reviews: Ralston has earned his share of compliments in his first year at Geneva, and St. Charles North's Tom Poulin joined in after his team beat the Vikings Saturday night.
"No disrespect to anyone we've played up to this point but we haven't faced too many teams that are as well coached and individual players with a basketball IQ that those kids have," Poulin said. "They were impressive."
Poulin's North Stars return to Upstate Eight play tonight against Larkin. Like the Western Sun, the Upstate Eight race is up for grabs. Teams haven't played nearly as many conference games, so at 3-1 St. Charles North is in the thick of the race with Neuqua Valley (4-1 and a win over the North Stars), South Elgin (3-0) and East Aurora (2-0).
Don't reach in: It only took Illiana Christian five minutes, 10 seconds to get into the bonus Friday night at Aurora Christian.
Too many fouls have been a problem for the Eagles under first-year coach Marc Davidson.
"That has been an Achilles' heel of ours all year, we put teams to the line too much," Davidson said. "We've been getting killed at the free-throw line. We've tried to make that a point of emphasis at our practices to keep our hands off people and move our feet."
The Eagles started to turn the game around when Eric Anderson entered. The senior big man finished with a double-double, 12 points and 11 rebounds.
"Eric was very active," Davidson said. "That's what we look for him to do. If he plays like that he's going to be hard to handle."