Scouting Fox Valley area holiday tournaments

It's holiday tournament time in the Fox Valley and while area teams are playing and will play in a variety of tournaments, the top draw is still at Dundee-Crown.

The 27th Annual Charger Classic, sponsored by the Daily Herald, won't commence until Dec. 26, but they say the best is always saved for last, and in this case, they're right.

Here's a look at all the holiday tournaments involving Fox Valley area schools.

At Dundee-Crown: Even the Bulls didn't win six in a row. But that's what Fenwick could accomplish this year if the Friars walk out of Carpentersville Dec. 30 with another championship. In fact, no team besides Fenwick and Naperville Central has won a D-C title since Fremd in 1998. Fenwick won three straight starting in 1999, Naperville Central won with Candace Parker in 2002 and 2003, and Fenwick has won every year since. Those two could meet in the title game this year, and they are both currently unbeaten.

Bartlett (7-4) and Dundee-Crown (2-9) are the area schools in the field. Bartlett will play Buffalo Grove (3-6) in the first round while the Chargers get the unenviable task of taking on Fenwick.

"It's a great tournament," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "We always look forward to it. There's a lot of good teams with different styles. It lets you know where you stand."

The Hawks have won 3 straight and 5 of their last 6 heading into Saturday's nonconference encounter at West Chicago. Still a young team, they've been led by junior standout Jacki Gulczynski.

"I feel like we're getting some organization to our game," said Sarna, whose team took Naperville Central to overtime earlier in the season. "This tournament will give us a chance to see how far we've come. Finishing .500 in this tournament would be great. You take the wins you can get in this tournament because if you win some games, it means you're playing well."

The Charger Classic kicks off at 10 a.m. Dec. 26 with Prospect taking on Hononegah. The championship game is set for 8 p.m. on Dec. 30.

Northern Illinois Holiday Classic: This 16-team tournament begins tonight at four different sites and includes Burlington Central and Crystal Lake South, which are in different pools. The Rockets open tournament play tonight against Woodstock at Woodstock, while the Gators travel to Richmond to play Grayslake North.

Burlington (6-3) is off to a good start and first-year coach Stephanie Smith is optimistic that will continue.

"We had two solid, consistent games last weekend and the girls are starting to understand that having a balanced scoring attack makes it more fun," she said. "We've been boxing out and rebounding much better and I think we're ready to go."

Central has been led by seniors Jordan Maisto, Taylor Colby, Alli Settanni and Katie McNutt but junior guard Araceli Munoz is out for about a month with a knee injury.

"We're improving each game and that's all you can ask," Smith said. "The effort is always there; it's just a matter of making the right decisions at the right time with the basketball."

CL South (5-7) got a boost recently with the return from injury of senior leader Jenny Hanrahan. The Gators scored an impressive win at South Elgin Wednesday night and should be a threat to win this tournament.

At Mundelein: Streamwood coach George Rosner holds this tournament in high regard.

"It's not Dundee-Crown, but it's getting better and better," said Rosner, whose 3-5 team plays Neuqua Valley tonight then heads to Mundelein for a 9 a.m. game Saturday against Rolling Meadows.

"We've been progressing," said Rosner, whose Sabres are led by seniors Emma Schmidt and Melissa Oehlerking and promising freshman Jessica Cerda. "There's no doubt we're getting better but we only have 10 players and we've battled some injuries. We need to get healthy. We have a tough grind ahead of us."

Undefeated Cary-Grove is also in Streamwood's pool, along with Belvidere.

"I knew things would be different this year but I had no idea we'd do this well," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "It's been a pleasant surprise."

Saffert singled out Libertyville, Conant and Zion-Benton as being top teams to beat at Mundelein.

Huntley is in a pool with Mundelein, Prairie Ridge and Zion-Benton and opens play Saturday against PR.

At Wheaton North: Elgin and Jacobs will compete in the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic. Elgin plays the opening game of the tournament at 9 a.m. Dec. 26 against No. 3 seed Hersey, while Jacobs (8-2), which drew the No. 7 seed, opens with Glenbard South.

"It's all about getting good competition right now," said Jacobs coach Ed Haugens. "We think we have a good team. We see great things sometimes and we see things we need to work on. We're looking down the road and trying to get better."

Hinsdale Central, Elk Grove, Hersey and Waubonsie Valley are the top four seeds at Wheaton North.

At Oswego East: South Elgin and Larkin travel to this tournament, which begins Dec. 26 as well. South Elgin meets Addison Trail in the first round and then could meet top seed Plainfield North.

"I don't know that much about all the teams out there but if we can go in there and get three wins we'd be pretty happy," said Storm coach Tim Prendergast, whose team is 4-6. "We're trying to get something going and we're trying to find some consistency. At some point I feel like we're going to turn the corner and start winning. We'll take one game at a time but our goal is to go in there and win at least three games and play good basketball."

Winless Larkin will play No. 2 seed Lemont in the first round.

At Lisle: St. Edward (6-4) drew Antioch in the first round of the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic, which also begins Dec. 26.

"Lisle's a tough tournament and it's going to be another test for us," said Green Wave coach Michelle Dawson. "We're just trying to learn from each game. We have a lot of good things happening on the court right now but we also know there are things we need to do better."

Included in St. Edward's bracket are Immaculate Conception, Holy Trinity, St. Francis, Timothy Christian, Newark and Chicago Latin.

"Coming into Christmas and into the second half of the season we have figured some things out and hopefully we'll see improvement," Dawson said. "As we play more of a team game we should be more successful."

At Montini: As if the competition at Wheaton North isn't enough, Jacobs has entered the Montini tournament, where the Golden Eagles will not only play top-ranked Montini, but also Chicago Bogan on Dec. 26. Jacobs then plays Oak Park-River Forest in pool play before two days of bracket play take place Dec. 29-30.