Streamwood hoping to grab some magic
It doesn't happen every year, but it happens.
A team that had a subpar regular-season record suddenly puts it all together and makes a run deep into the state tournament.
Larkin entered the 2005 playoffs with an 11-15 record, caught fire behind the play of Dayvon Ellis and Carliss Henderson and won 5 straight games to reach a Class AA supersectional in Moline.
Last year, St. Edward entered the playoffs at 9-18, but the Green Wave upset Genoa-Kingston in Genoa to win a Class 2A regional title before bowing out in sectional play at Plano.
Streamwood (9-17) is making a bid to be that team in 2010.
Considered by several coaches to be one of the most physically gifted squads in the area, the Sabres struggled to put it all together during the regular season against a tough schedule. Of Streamwood's 25 regular-season opponents, 13 will compete for regional titles tonight.
Not until Wednesday night's 77-44 victory over Cary-Grove (14-13), a division champion from the Fox Valley Conference, had Streamwood won back-to-back games. But the past is merely prelude to what lies before the Sabres tonight, when they face host Barrington (16-12) for a regional title at 7:30 p.m.
Streamwood seeks its sixth regional championship overall and its first since 2000.
The Sabres played one of their best games of the season on Wednesday. They passed the ball fluidly, they used their athleticism to stifle Cary-Grove on the perimeter and in the paint, and they simply shot the lights out. The Sabres canned 31-of-48 attempts, including 6 of 14 from 3-point range.
"We were hitting a lot of shots and we were executing our offense pretty good," senior forward Marcus Lewis said. "We got our chances to get out and run on them good and we just kept scoring. But I think we can play better. I really think we can."
Lewis made three phenomenal individual plays in Wednesday's game. First, he drove past a defender at the perimeter, beat him to the baseline and slammed the ball home. Later he stole a ball at midcourt and flew in for a one-handed dunk. In the second half, he stole an inbounds pass near the Cary-Grove baseline, made a baseline spin move past a defender and completed a soaring reverse layup.
But Lewis wasn't the only Sabre in motion. Junior guard Jerrold Ofiana posted 16 points for the second straight game, including a pair of 3-pointers. Other Streamwood weapons include brawny, 6-foot-3 senior forward Derrick King (9.0 ppg., 7.2 rpg), senior forward Marcus Greene (9.1 ppg., 3.1 rpg.) and sophomore interior force Lorenzo Mitchell (5 ppg., 7.1 rpg.).
Barrington has won 4 straight games and 6 of its last 7, paced by guard Brian Wegner (6-0). The senior leads his team in scoring (15.4), rebounding (4.3), assists (3.0) and steals (2.0). The Broncos also possess talent and height in the frontcourt with senior forward Ben Bartz (6-3) and sophomore John Schneider (6-6), who finished with 7 points and 4 blocked shots in Tuesday's 52-39 semifinal victory over Dundee-Crown.
"They've got two real good outside shooters, Wegner and Bartz," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "And their post player, Schneider, has come a long way.
"They'll physically come after you. They're a Mid-Suburban team that wants to beat you up. That's the way they are. And they can shoot the ball a little bit, too. We're going to have to withstand that. We're going to have to be at our best to play against them."