Doubleheader weekend in the DuPage Valley
The DuPage Valley Conference has a funny way of celebrating the New Year.
Welcome to doubleheader weekend.
Cramming together a 14-game boys basketball schedule requires two sets of Friday and Saturday games a season in the DVC, the first of which comes this weekend following a significant holiday layoff for all the teams.
"It's hard because everyone's been off for a while," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. "I don't know if there's ever a good time for it, but this week it's really tough."
And not just because of the back-to-back conference games. Naperville Central opens 2010 with the cross-town game against Naperville North. The Wheatons also play their cross-town game on Friday.
As if preparation for Saturday's game wasn't difficult enough, playing your rival first makes the second game even more of an afterthought.
For Naperville North, which plays league-leading Glenbard East on Saturday, a quick turnaround is crucial.
"That's a real double whammy," said Huskies coach Jeff Powers. "When you're facing two good teams like we are, you really have to concentrate on what you do well instead of worrying about everything they do."
Regardless of the opponent, it's a tall task for all eight DVC teams this weekend.
"The conference is so good this year, no matter who you play it's going to be a challenge," said Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos.
In a way the timing is a positive. With teams coming off holiday tournaments, they're accustomed to game preparation in consecutive days.
"It works out fine for us because we played through last Wednesday," said WW South coach Mike Healy. "We won't deal with our Saturday game until Friday's done, but the kids are used to that by now."
"Taking baby steps": Those may be baby steps Lake Park is taking, as first-year Lancers coach Josh Virostko suggested, but thus far it's a leap over what occurred in Roselle last basketball season.
At 7-6 heading into Saturday's Upstate Eight game at Larkin, Lake Park is already ahead of last season's 5-23 mark.
Granted, last year's club actually won two additional games on the court, but they were moved to the loss column by forfeit, for using an ineligible player.
That was then and this is now.
"Our confidence grew a little bit," Virostko said of Lake Park's consolation title at Wheeling, capped with a 49-48 victory over Loyola that was won at the end on a clutch shot by senior forward Kyle Phelan.
"Confidence at the high school level is a huge thing, and I think we've seen us go up and down based on our confidence level," said Virostko, who came over after two seasons at Plainfield Central. "Hopefully, we can keep them building it up."
Virostko rattled off his top contributors: junior Zack Cooper and senior Antonio Pietanza, a pair of 6-foot-4 players who've solidified the post; sophomores Nick Zanghi, Kevin Spejcher and Dominique Spencer; and senior guard Adam Hansen, whose scoring contributions have lessened the load on top scorer Matt Drufke.
And there's Drufke himself. The 6-foot senior guard made Wheeling's all-tourney team and came out of the gate firing for 27 points in a 71-65 overtime loss to Notre Dame.
Virostko, however, seemed to prefer Drufke's 5 assists and 3 rebounds in the win over Loyola.
"He's trying to be aggressive," said Virostko, who also looks forward to the return of senior guard Greg Whetsel, out since Dec. 1 with a knee injury.
"Earlier (Drufke) was disappearing, and now in the last week or two he's making more of an impact," the coach said.
The Upstate Eight Conference grind remains, but greater impact appears to be the program's general outlook.
"If you practice hard and you compete and then believe in yourself, you're able to fight through tough times against good teams," Virostko said. "Lately we've been doing that."
Taking their shots: It wasn't easy picking a most valuable player for Lemont's holiday tournament, but it certainly had to be someone from champion Hinsdale South.
Lavonte Brown, who averaged 13 points and 6 rebounds, earned the honor with a 22-point performance in the final against Joliet Catholic. The Hornets (9-2), though, had a different leading scorer in all four tournament games.
"Lavonte did a great job for us," said Hornets coach Vince Doran. "When you look at those individual awards, they're team awards for us. Playing as a team is what's made us successful."
Forty-three percent 3-point shooting, including 53 percent shooting by sophomore Phil George, led Hinsdale South to the title run at Lemont. Karl Ploger scored 17 points in the opener against Reavis, George and Brock Benson scored 12 against Downers North and Joe Petrak had 16 points against Plainfield Central.
Four games, five different leading scorers. All wins.
"We're very balanced," Doran said. "That's our biggest strength."
Will to win: York went 3-1 to claim fifth place at the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament hosted by the Dukes, a strong run behind 6-foot-3 junior Will Sullivan.
"He was really a complete player for us," said York coach Al Biancalana.
Sullivan was the leading scorer at Jack Tosh with 86 points. He also averaged 6 rebounds and 4 assists. His best game was a 33-point performance against South Elgin.
Sam Cleary also played strong at York while Evan Fendley flashed his shooting talents from the perimeter. With Sullivan leading the way, the Dukes are poised for a promising second half of the season.
The challenge begins right off the bat. York (9-4, 2-1) plays unbeaten Lyons Twp. (12-0, 2-0), the Jack Tosh champion, in a key West Suburban Silver showdown Friday on the road.
"I think we're more than capable of beating anyone in the conference," Biancalana said. "But we have to maintain our integrity on offense and play defense with all five guys."