Harper women aim to extend success

The Harper women's basketball team was off over Thanksgiving weekend but will be back at it Tuesday night when McHenry visits Palatine.

“Hopefully we can build on what happened against Morton,” said coach Mark Smith of the Hawks' 59-34 win Tuesday. “This year we have a lot of young players who are going to have to improve. If we play hard for 40 minutes we can play with anybody.”

Against Morton, Sara Kellermeyer (Schaumburg) stole the show for Harper (3-4). The 6-foot sophomore scored 25 points and had 7 rebounds.

“She played very well,” Smith said. “In order for us to be pretty good, she has to score like that for us. We need that all year from her.”

High hopes: The Harper men's basketball team improved to 6-1 with an 88-75 victory over Morton on Tuesday.

Garrett Gatz (Conant) led the Hawks in scoring with 20 points, Perrish Bell (Schaumburg) gave Harper a spark off the bench and finished with 13 points, and both Wes Wilcox (Lake Park) and Chris Hicks (Elk Grove) scored in double figures.

“We got after it defensively,,” said Harper coach Tony Amarino. “They were not able to get into any sets.”

Harper hosts McHenry on Tuesday.

“The key is if we worry about ourselves, we have a good chance,” Amarino said.

If there is one thing that still concerns the coach, it is the intensity with which his team plays on a nightly basis.

“We should come to play every night,” Amarino said.

All-region grid picks: Nine Harper College football players have been named to the all region team.

Among that group, six were first-team selections: David Hettiger (LB), Eric Palmore-Lett (DB), Chris Sparrow (OL), Michael Josefovski (K), Devin Henderson (DL) and Benjamin Harris (TE, Elgin).

“They all deserve some kind of recogintion” said second-year Harper coach Eric Waldstein.

Chris Buonavolanto (LB, Lake Park), Jim Battaglia (OL) and Javier Safford (WR) were named to the second team.

“They're a great group of kids,” Waldstein said.