Arlington Heights should be proud of hometown Cardinals

I am writing to inform the community of Arlington Heights, that it has a hidden gem right in its own backyard.

I wanted to bring deserved attention to a U-12 AAU basketball team that carriers the name of the old Arlington High School.

The Arlington Cardinals are made up of eight sixth-grade boys, who have all gone through the AHYBA program, and are coached by four volunteer dads/

They currently boast an incredible 59-7 record and have racked up a variety of regional tournament championships at both the sixth and seventh grade levels, including this past weekend's Kings of the Hardwood super sectional at Simeon High School on Chicago's far West side!

They are considered by most who follow these highly competitive tournaments to be the "Best of the Best" in the entire state!

The uncommon factor that separates this team from most all other AAU teams that they compete against is that all the players hail from Arlington Heights, and are (believe it) not recruited from other towns or even states!

Matter of fact - four players live within blocks of each other.

The Cardinals went to the AAU Illinois state championships April 4 in Deerfield. Thirty-two under-12 teams were invited and the Cardinals defeated five other teams from Chicago, Springfield, Bloomington/Normal and Melrose Park to reach the finals and finish with an incredible 65-8.

They played their way into the championship game against a team called The Full Package, which the Cardinals lost 61-60 on a buzzer shot with 1 second left in overtime!

The boys on the Arlington Cardinals are Mark Falotico, Chris Macahon, Pat MacNamara, Grant von der Lippe, Brandon Powell, Kevin Monson, Dan Levato and Josh Plischke.

Andrew Plischke

Arlington Heights