Carl Sandburg Middle School 8th Grade Boys Basketball
Carl Sandburg Middle School's boys' 7th and 8th grade basketball teams, the Tigers, are nearing the end of their basketball season, with just 2 games and conference games left to play. They've spent the last 4 days playing basketball, all weekend in tournament play at the College of Lake County and 2 home games this week, Monday against Highland Park's Edgewood Eagles and Tuesday against Libertyville's Oak Grove Eagles. The 7th grade team has been winning games and doing well. Playing with injured, benched and missing players, Sandburg's 8th grade Tigers have been disadvantaged in gameplay but still managed to get some decent points on the board against some tough teams. They've been playing without 2 injured players, John Lentz number 32 with a broken thumb and Jacob Buscher number 24 with a concussion.
In Saturday's 8th grade tournament games, Sandburg played Gurnee's Vikings at 8am and Beach Park's Eagles at 11am. Down 3 players, the Tigers were challenged in their first game against the Vikings, only getting in one basket to the Viking's 10 in the first period. Tigers struggled against the Vikings, ending the game with 13 points to Gurnee's 42. Nick Brune number 55, Robert Thompson number 23, Daniel Hernandez number 12 and Wes Farmer number 11 scored points for Sandburg. In their second tournament game against Beach Park's Eagles, Tigers ended the first period with 0 points on the board, the second period with only 2 points, and the third period with only 5 points. They rallied slightly in the last period to bring their score to 14 to Beach Park's 38. Shooters scoring baskets included Robert Thompson number 23, Wes Farmer number 11, Nick Brune number 55 and Mickey Cardenas number 30.
In Sunday's tourrnament games against Caruso's Bluejays and Grayslake's Panthers, Sandburg's Tigers were down 4 players. Shooters scoring against the Bluejays inluded Angel Espinoza number 13, Mickey Cardenas number 30, Wes Farmer number 11, Nick Brune number 55 and Chris Shimineto number 3. Nick and Angel shot 3-point baskets, but the Tigers only scored 15 points to Caruso's 34. They played better against Grayslake, finishing the game with 31 points to Grayslake's 42 points. Players who scored for the Tigers included Wes Farmer number 11, Mickey Cardenas number 30, Nick Brune number 55, Angel Espinoza number 13 and Joe Nagel number 5. Several of Sandburg's baskets were shot in the last 50 seconds of the period and several 3-point baskets helped get the numbers up.
Monday, Tigers faced Edgewood's Eagles down 3 players and ended 16 to Edgewood's 42. They fared better against Oak Grove's Eagles on Tuesday, playing a good game and finishing 39 to Oak Grove's 45. Sandburg faces Lake Bluff's Bobcats on Thursday, December 16th at Lake Bluff Middle School. Hopefully, their injured players will be in the game and the team won't be missing any players. Go Tigers