Harper men, women pick up hoops victories on the road
On Tuesday, the McHenry Community College Scots hosted Harper's men's basketball team and came away with a 72-67 victory.
Guard Floyd Battle had 18 points for Harper, and forward Paul Sanders added 14 points.
This weekend Illinois Valley Community College will be the host sight for the Battle on The Hill tournament Dec. 4-6.
The Hawks' first game will be at 5 p.m. Friday against Clinton; Sunday's game will be the Hawks' last until Dec. 12 when it travels to Chicago to play Daley College.
"We have to be ready to play (against Clinton)," said coach Tony Amarino.
Last week, Harper (3-5) lost to Malcolm X Community College 52-46.
"The first 14, 15 minutes of the game we would have beaten anybody in the region," said Amarino. "It showed what we are capable of doing."
Road win for women: The women's basketball team has pair of games on the schedule this week.
On Tuesay, the Hawks traveled to McHenry Community College and won 52-33.
"It's always tougher to play well and get a win (on the road)," said coach Mark Smith.
Peggie Parhas led the Hawks in scoring with 18 points, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
Today the Hawks welcome Elgin Community College to the Sports and Wellness Center in a rare home-and-home nonconference series.
The Hawks and Spartans last met on Nov. 11, with the Hawks bringing a 66-57 win back to Palatine. In that game, Parhas scored 20 points while Noreen Davis scored 15, 13 of which came in the second half. The Hawks forced the Spartans into 13 turnovers.
Harper aims to do a better job of containing the Elgin trio of Brittany Armato, Tracy Ferguson and Sophie Sterricker, who combined for 36 of the Spartans' 57 points in the team's first meeting.
"We are most concerned with Armato and the other guard (forward Sophie Sterricker)." Smith said. "They are pretty good spot-up shooters."
Last week, the Hawks (6-3) split back-to-back games. First the Hawks lost to Oakton 52-50 in overtime. Davis (Conant) was the leading scorer for the Hawks with 19 points and made 5 of 9 three-pointers, and Anna Kirchoff (Barrington) piched in with 18 points.
Against Malcom X at the Sports and Wellness Center, Parhas scored a team-high 19 points as Harper came away with a 41-39 victory.
"We started pretty slowly (against Malcom X)," said Smith. "We really have improved defesively."
Mat matters: This weekend a banged Harper wrestling team, which is ranked No. 4 in the nation among NJCAA non-scholarship schools, travels to Parkside, Wis., to participate in the Parkside Open.
"We just need to stay heathy," said Harper coach Dan Loprieno.
The Hawks' freshmen will wrestle against upperclasmen for the first time because there is no freshman division at the meet.
"This could be one of our toughes tests yet," Loprieno said. "The kids who place here can place in the national tournament (Feb. 26-27 in Des Moines, Iowa)."
Next weekend the Hawks will wrestle in Illnois for the first time this season when they travel to Triton College.
Title time: The NJCAA football championship game is Sunday, Dec. 6 in Pittsburgh, Kan. The game will feature top-ranked Fort Scott (Kan.) and No. 2-ranked Blinn (Texas) in the Citizen's Bank Bowl.