Buffalo Grove relishes underdog role
Buffalo Grove knows almost no one outside of its boys basketball locker room thinks the Bison have a chance against No. 1.
And that's just fine with the ninth-seeded Bison (17-10) as they host top-seeded Waukegan (22-4) and star Jereme Richmond in a Class 4A regional championship at 7:30 p.m. today.
"We don't care what other people think out there," BG senior and third-year starting point guard Kevin Mulligan said of facing last year's 4A state runner-up. "Everyone in that (team meeting) room believes and that's what counts."
Junior forward Dan Recht laughed and said even close friends and family members likely wouldn't be giving the Bison much of a shot.
"Everyone is going to doubt us, but we think we have a chance," Recht said. "They might beat us 99 times out of 100 but this one time might be ours. And we're pretty good at our place."
So what has to happen to make this that one time for BG?
"Defensive rebounding and taking care of the ball," Recht said.
"We have to take care of the basketball," BG coach Ryan O'Connor said of Waukegan's trapping defense. "They are relentless defensively and we have to work together offensively and beat them with the pass."
Waukegan showed the damage it could do in a hurry in transition off turnovers and missed shots. BG also knows the Illinois-bound Richmond is going to do his share of damage.
"They're going to score points," O'Connor said. "We need to make them earn everything they get and not let them get transition points."
Waukegan knows facing a lower seed on its home floor for a regional title won't be easy.
"Later on in the tourney the teams get better and the teams get harder so we have to stay disciplined," Richmond said.
"We do try to approach everybody the same way," said Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw. "The preparation is different, but the mindset is the same.
"We have a target on our back with the success of last season and how we've played this year. We're a yearbook cover or front page of the sports section (game)."
Now the Bison get their shot at a big headline. And the 5-foot-11 Mulligan is ready for his latest big challenge if it comes his way.
"Hopefully, but we'll see how it goes," Mulligan smiled about possibly guarding the 6-7 Richmond. "I'm excited and if coach does that I think I'm ready."
The winner advances to Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. Waukegan sectional semifinal against the Hersey-Stevenson winner at Warren.
Helping with a big test: Prospect 6-7 senior Jake Suckow had a 10-game stretch where he didn't score a point and didn't even see the floor six times.
Now Suckow is playing a big part for the Knights (17-9), who are seeded seventh in the Niles West sectional. He had 6 points and 6 rebounds in the MSL title-game loss to Fremd and 4 points and 4 rebounds in Wednesday's overtime win over Niles North in the Glenbrook South 4A regional semifinal.
Suckow figures to have a big role again against No. 2 New Trier (21-4), which survived 6-22 Glenbrook South in double overtime Tuesday for its 12th win in 13 games.
"We have to big with our lineup," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "It's been a long time since we've played a team with three Division I players. I feel good if we can hit our shots and at least play even on the glass."
That won't be easy against 6-5 Alex Rossi (California), 6-9 Fred Heldring (William and Mary) and 6-6 sophomore Connor Boehm, who can give foes fits with their 1-3-1 and matchup zones but played all man-to-man Tuesday.
Suckow will be vital on the boards with Jack and Terry Redding, Kevin Matkovic, Nsenzi Salasini and Matt Loebbaka.
"Jake has been coming along great and it feels awesome to have that other rebounder," said Prospect senior guard Joe LaTulip. "The Fremd game was definitely how Jake can play. He can be a humongous component for us."
Suckow played a lot early in the season, but when LaTulip went out for a month with a knee injury Camardella said the Knights needed to go with a smaller lineup.
"When Joe came back, Jake was ready," He really controlled the glass down the stretch (Wednesday) and was screening well for Mike (LaTulip) and Joe."
Helping the LaTulips combine for 53 points and eight 3s to get a shot at a repeat regional title works for Suckow.
"(Fremd) was a big confidence boost and it felt good to play again," Suckow said. "I'm not the best scorer but I can get our best scorers open."
The winner advances to Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. Niles West sectional semifinal against the winner of host Maine South and Notre Dame.
Surprise rivalry renewal: Hoffman Estates senior Colin Conway could have also been summing up the fortunes of Schaumburg after their regional quarterfinal wins Monday.
"It's really been a roller coaster year," Conway said of the Hawks. "We really feel we're coming together now."
And surprise, the Mid-Suburban West rivals are together at 7:30 p.m. today in an unexpected 4A regional final when No. 13 Schaumburg (15-11) hosts No. 13 Hoffman (15-12).
Schaumburg stunned MSL champion and No. 3 Fremd on Tuesday and Hoffman's dramatic fourth-quarter rally knocked out North Suburban champion and No. 6 Zion-Benton.
Hoffman had hopes of finishing in the top half of the West but ended up last at 2-8 with 45-38 and 49-41 losses to the Saxons.
But the Hawks have won three in a row and have a solid point guard in senior Kelvin Tiongson and pose tough matchups with 6-7 Lance Vesper, 6-4 John Bialek and 6-4 Conway.
Schaumburg has persevered through a tough transition year with first-year coach Matt Walsh that has included player suspensions and defections. But the Saxons have been in nearly every game all year behind senior point guard Declan Geraghty.
Seniors Joe Infusino and Glenn Frost and juniors Javon McDonald are dangerous long-range threats. Juniors Christian Spandiary and Kurt Kempema and senior Chris Baker will have key roles against Hoffman's big guys inside.
The winner advances to Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. Waukegan sectional semifinal against the winner of host Deerfield and Libertyville.
Homing in on titles?: Barrington and St. Viator hope to celebrate the end of regional-title droughts on their home courts tonight.
The Broncos (16-12), the top seed in their 4A regional, go for their first title since 2004 when they host Streamwood (9-17) at 7:30 p.m.
The Lions (21-6), the top seed in their 3A regional, look to set the school record for wins with their first title since 2001 when they host Fenton (11-17) at 7:30 p.m.
The records look like mismatches, but Streamwood showed its capability with its 71-44 rout of Cary-Grove on Wednesday. The athletic Sabres have size and are led by 6-4 seniors Marcus Lewis (14.2 ppg) and Marcus Greene (9.1).
While Barrington, led by senior Bryan Wegner (15 ppg), hasn't been in a regional final since 2005 it's nothing new for first-year coach Bryan Tucker. Last year's regional-final loss ended a streak of four regional titles at Loyola.
Viator also won't be taking anything for granted as the Lions go for their third regional title in history behind third-year starters Alan Aboona and Richard McLoughlin. Six-3 junior Dan Montano (15 ppg) leads the way for Fenton, which won its only regional title in 1976.
The Barrington winner advances to Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. Rockford Boylan sectional semifinal against the hosts or Rockton Hononegah.
The Viator winner advances to Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. Vernon Hills sectional semifinal against the hosts or North Chicago.
Earning valuable points: Waukegan's 90-60 victory and its trapping defense wasn't an easy lesson for Rolling Meadows to absorb Tuesday.
But it figures to be a valuable educational tool for Meadows starting sophomore point guard Brian Nelms going into his third varsity season.
"It's every player's wish out here to play the No. 1 team," Nelms said after scoring 8 points and getting 3 assists. "You want to see how you match up with the best team against the best player in the state (Jereme Richmond).
"It was great for the juniors and sophomores."
Nelms said the returning Mustangs now know what they need to do in the off-season to improve on a 10-18 finish and compete with upper-echelon teams.
"When you look back in the off-season you can say Waukegan was doing this and doing this so you have to work even harder," Nelms said. "We worked hard in the off-season, but if you want to compete with someone with that much talent you have to compete even harder."
Nelms definitely made big strides in all areas after spending his entire freshman season on the varsity as a starter or top reserve.
"Over the off-season I really worked on mentally being prepared," Nelms said. "It comes down to mental toughness.
"Last year toward the end of the year I kind of faded off and as a point guard you have to have control of the team. This year I felt I was able to be more productive and hopefully in the years to come I'll be more productive."
Nelms is part of a nice core of returnees that includes sophomores Tyler Gaedele and Eric Lowe and juniors Scott Shewmon and Paul Volkman. But Nelms also appreciated the efforts of the seniors to make his transition easier - from scoring leader Richie Kemph to reserves Steve Rickerson and Jack Barry.
"They worked hard throughout the whole season and kept kids on the bench in the game," Nelms said of Rickerson and Barry.
Starting the turnaround: After a successful stint at Maine East, it didn't take Glenn Olson long to start turning things around at Niles North.
The former Meadows basketball and baseball standout quadrupled the Vikings' win total of last year as they went 12-15 and took Prospect to overtime in the regional semifinal. And the outlook is even brighter with 6-6 Abdul Nader leading a solid crew of returnees.
"The nice thing is (Prospect) beat us by 26 (in December) and that shows we had drastic improvement," Olson said. "We graduate only one senior who really plays (Marlon Senior) so we definitely feel good about the direction we're heading and our practices the last month.
"Our key is not to be satisfied with 12-15."
Especially since expectations will be higher with Nader, who has attracted serious Division I interest from Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee, Baylor, Oregon State and Wyoming.
"He's a great coach," said Nader, who played for Olson at Maine East. "His philosophy is to work hard and he gets everybody to play hard and works on your skills. He's making everybody better."
Olson's staff also includes former all-area standouts Mike Hare (St. Viator) and Bart Fabian (Maine West) and his dad Don.
Tip-ins: Prospect's overtime win Wednesday prevented MSL history as both division winners have never lost in the first round of the postseason. Fremd is the fourth MSL title-game winner to lose its opener (Hersey 1992, Prospect 1986 and 1971) - Nazareth's 59-55 win over North Lawndale in Tuesday's 3A regional semifinal was the fifth in state history to go eight overtimes, according to IHSA records. Dwight and Reddick played nine overtimes in 1964 and North Chicago beat Maine West in eight extra sessions in the 1981 Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic title game - So much for momentum as first-round losses ended long winning streaks for Grayslake Central (15), Fremd (14) and Warren (11) - While the MSL West dominated the East 17-3 in the regular season, the East took two postseason crossovers as Meadows beat Palatine and BG beat Conant.