Huntley faces a stiff road test against Johnsburg tonight
Huntley visits Johnsburg in a showdown between Fox Valley Conference unbeatens tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Johnsburg (6-0), which returns loads of experience led by senior guard Mike Dixon and senior center C.J. Fiedorowicz, is the favorite to win the Fox Division. Huntley (5-0) has been an early-season surprise with a freshman and three sophomores playing key roles.
"They have guys with more varsity experience than my guys have years in our program," Huntley coach Marty Manning said. "Everyone in their starting lineup has been playing varsity for three or four years. They have experience and they're all good players. I definitely think they're the most talented team in our conference.
"We didn't expect to be 5-0 at this time We just hold ourselves to our own standards win or lose. We're a young team and we're learning every game. If we lose to Johnsburg but we execute our game plan, I'll be happy and I think our players will be somewhat happy as well."
Fiedorowicz, who will play football at Iowa, scored 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in Tuesday's 57-45 win at Jacobs.
"We have to hope that he has an off night and that their shooters have an off night," Manning said. "The good thing is it's not like when he scores it counts for 40 points. We've been shooting the basketball well so if he scores on us, we can go down and score on them. That will make our lives easier.
"If we can exploit our strength against their defense we should be able to hang in the game. If we continue to shoot the basketball the way we have the last four games, there's no reason we shouldn't be in it."
The Red Raiders were shooting 59 percent from 3-point range heading into Tuesday's 78-36 win over Woodstock North. Though he hasn't taken an abundance of shots, sophomore point guard Troy Miller is shooting 69 percent from the field: 7 of 9 from 3-point range, 4 of 6 on 2-point attempts and 100 percent from the free-throw line. Junior Tyler Brunschon and sophomore Justin Frederick are Huntley's leading scorers.
That which doesn't kill a Golden Eagle only makes it stronger: An 0-4 record is an unfamiliar turn of events at Jacobs. The Golden Eagles finished a combined 77-9 the past three seasons.
Three players suspended since the start of the season aren't expected to make their debuts until later this month, so Jacobs will again be short-handed at Grayslake Central (3-3) tonight at 7 p.m. and at Fremd (5-0) Saturday at 6 p.m.
"All I can say is they'd better get us early," said Golden Eagles coach Jim Hinkle of the competition. "I'm really happy with the kids. We've had a lot of kids get opportunities to show us something that's going to be meaningful in the last 23 or 24 games. Spirits aren't down at all."
Senior Matt Schmidt (14 ppg.) has come off the bench to become the team's leading scorer. Junior Nick Hofman, a returning starter, has been playing point guard. He will return to his familiar 2-guard position when starter Mike Peterson returns. Meanwhile, players like senior forward Mike Billings, who Hinkle said would not have played without the manpower shortage, have been pleasant surprises.
"All these kids have increased our rotation," Hinkle said. "Typically, I don't play many. If you're the eighth man you're lucky to see time on the floor. We played 10 the last game. In a few weeks we get three more (players) back, and I don't know that I'm unhappy with any of these 10. If anything, we've increased our depth."
Charging forward: Dundee-Crown (1-3) will try to bounce back from last Saturday's 51-38 loss at St. Charles East in tonight's FVC crossover game at Prairie Ridge (2-3) at 7:15 p.m.
Coach Corky Card's Wolves are coming off a 61-47 win over Crystal Lake South last Saturday. Dundee-Crown (1-3) graduated every player from the rotation of last year's Class 4A Final Four team.
"I think we're making progress," D-C coach Lance Huber said. "Obviously, we're not where we'd like to be, but at the same time I think our guys are working very hard and we're getting better. It's going to be a process.
"Prairie Ridge is definitely one of the best-coached teams in the area. It's always an opportunity to see how you stand against a team that's very well-coached. We've had a week to get ready to see how we stand. I'm looking forward to a good effort and a good game."
Storm related: South Elgin (5-1, 1-0) begins a stretch of three games in five days with an Upstate Eight Conference game at Waubonsie Valley (1-5, 0-1) tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Storm - ranked No. 11 in the Daily Herald Top 20 - return home Saturday to face No. 16 Hoffman Estates (4-1) in nonconference action at 7:30 p.m. South Elgin hosts Aurora Central Catholic (4-1) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
The Storm won't play again until Dec. 26 at York, when they open the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament against St. Ignatius at 4 p.m. South Elgin is the No. 8 seed in the 16-team tournament.
Digging for gold: St. Edward has lost three straight since opening the season 4-0. The Green Wave (4-3, 0-1) look to get back on track in Saturday's Suburban Christian Conference-Gold game against visiting Guerin (0-5, 0-1) at 7:30 p.m.
"I think we just want to get our confidence back," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "Our perimeter guys haven't been shooting particularly well from the floor. I think we need to go out and have a little better execution on offense."
St. Edward travels to No. 7 Wheaton Academy (6-0), the Gold Division favorite, next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
jfitzpatrick@dailyherald.com