Elgin tournament has glitzy addition
The field for the 36th Annual Elgin Holiday boys basketball tournament looks familiar with one glitzy exception.
Las Vegas-based Centennial High School is the only newcomer among the 16 schools prepared to descend upon Chesbrough Field House on Monday for the four-day, 16-team tournament. Centennial (7-1), coached by 1988 Elgin graduate, Todd Allen, replaces Glenbard East.
“Las Vegas is the unknown,” Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. “It's not like I could go out and scout them, although I did ask my wife. I thought I'd take the whole staff, spend three or four days, be thorough. I got a big no on that.”
Aborted scouting trips to the strip aside, Elgin (6-2) intends to justify its status as one of the top four seeds in the tournament, joining two-time defending champion Neuqua Valley (9-0), Rockford Auburn (6-1) and Wheaton North (4-3).
Elgin, which won the Buffalo Grove Thanksgiving Tournament for the first time since 2003, has not won its own tournament since 1999.
“I just want us to play consistent,” Sitter said of his tournament expectation. “Obviously, we've won one tournament so far and we'd like to win the next one, but our ultimate goal is to be playing well in March. We're building toward that.
“Auburn and Neuqua are real tough teams. The first goal is to win the first game.”
Elgin's first opponent is Hoffman Estates (1-6) on Monday at 6:30 p.m.
“I'm not going to look past Hoffman Estates,” Sitter said. “Their record is down this year, but they're never out of a game with the way they defend and play in the (Mid-Suburban League).”
The Elgin-Hoffman Estates winner advances to play the winner of Centennial vs. Larkin (2-6), which concludes Day 1 action at 8 p.m.
Centennial is as much a wild card to Larkin as to Elgin.
“All I know is I hear they're good, so we'll see,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “They're not littered with Division-I players, as far as I know.
“It'll be an interesting tournament because we play four straight games in four days. As a coaching staff, that really limits the things you can do as far as practice and preparation. I want to see guys learn from their mistakes from game to game. I want to see who steps up and provides leadership.”
The Royals have lost six straight since they opened the season with two wins. Larkin is a particularly young team with a guard rotation that includes sophomores Vincent Sarangaya and Quantice Hunter and freshman Derrick Streety all playing heavy minutes.
“They're up here for a reason,” Carter said. “They're talented enough to be here in terms of the team we have this year. We've been led in scoring by a freshman or sophomore in six of our last seven games. I'm asking them to do a lot and I know they'll continue to get better.”
Dundee-Crown (4-1) opens the tournament against Auburn on Monday at 8:45 a.m. The Knights have already defeated Boylan and sit atop the NIC-10 conference standings, tied with Guilford (6-4).
The Chargers finished second at the Sycamore Thanksgiving Tournament and have won three straight crossover games in the Fox Valley Conference.
“It'll be a nice test for us to find out where we're at,” Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said of facing Auburn. “They're getting some votes in the state poll, so it's a good chance to play a quality opponent and see how we measure up.
“I'd like to see us go down there and lay it all on the line. If we win the game, awesome. Great. If we unfortunately don't win the game after busting it and giving it all we have, I can accept that.”
The rest of Monday's opening-day matchups include Glenbrook South (3-5) vs. Rolling Meadows (3-5) at 10:15 a.m., Wheaton North vs. Highland Park (4-4) at noon, Buffalo Grove (5-4) vs. Batavia (4-4) at 1:30 p.m., Fremd (5-4) vs. Guilford at 3:15 p.m., and Neuqua Valley vs. Willowbrook (0-7) at 5 p.m.