Benet's Boyle, McInerney show they can play
For all the reasons to be impressed by Benet's 75-51 win over Glenbard East in Saturday's High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, the emergence of the Redwings' scoring depth was perhaps most impressive.
Consider that leading scorer Dave Sobolewski, nursing a back injury, scored only 4 of those 75 points. While Frank Kaminsky's 16 points and Matt Parisi's 10 were no surprise, the contributions of Pat Boyle and Pat McInerney created the wide margin of victory for the Redwings (21-0).
Boyle, who loosened up the Rams' defense with three 3-pointers, and McInerney combined for 39 points.
"We have some weapons on our team," said Redwings coach Gene Heidkamp, whose team continues its quest for a second straight East Suburban Catholic Conference title with Friday's game at Nazareth.
"Those secondary guys get you, if you want to call them that, 39 points in a big game," Heidkamp said. "Obviously, you've got to feel pretty good about that game."
That's not to say, though, that the team isn't anxious to see how Sobolewski's back responds to Saturday's 30-minute effort.
"Of course I'm anxious," Heidkamp said. "He's a huge part of what we do. It's hard to replace an all-state guard."
Sobolewski believes Saturday's contribution while maybe not his best outing was a crucial step toward a full recovery.
"It's definitely improving," he said. "But it's not at 100 percent."
Corner turning:
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Healy has been looking for a "breakthrough" win.
He might have gotten it last Friday.
The Tigers (9-8, 4-3) scored a nice DuPage Valley Conference victory by beating second-place West Aurora 48-42 in Wheaton.
"We'll see," Healy said. "At least it's a start. We've talked about getting that breakthrough win and West Aurora's been playing well."
Senior point guard Reilly O'Toole remains the Tigers' top scoring threat, but WW South's balance and a mere 5 turnovers helped beat the Blackhawks. Kevin Bridges led the way with 13 points while Jason Schuman added 12 points. O'Toole pitched in with 9 points and Dan Roadman tallied 8 points.
While Healy praised the entire team's effort including Tim Zyburt's defense on West Aurora leading scorer Juwan Starks he especially noted Schuman's play in the post. The 6-foot-6 senior had 7 rebounds and just as many deflections on defense.
"Jason was great," Healy said. "That was the best game he's had, and that's the kind of game we need from him."
The Tigers look to gain another breakthrough win in Friday's showdown at home against DVC leader Glenbard East (15-3, 7-0).
Getting it done:
Through the first two months of the season Metea Valley (12-9) had been hanging around in losing efforts against the likes of Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Hinsdale South and, in the first round of conference play, East Aurora.
Last week the Mustangs finally notched a win over a marquee opponent with their 83-79 victory over Upstate Eight Valley Division leader East Aurora.
It's the kind of thing Metea coach Bob Vozza hopes can carry over the rest of the year.
"We finally got to the point where we were able to get it done. I think it can only help with these guys' confidence," Vozza said.
"The second time through the conference, it's just a matter of being able to understand that we can play with them, and that our hard work paid off and we're able to beat a quality opponent like East Aurora."
Junior Kenny Obendorf scored a personal-high 34 points, setting the program's varsity record in the process.
Vozza said that in the first meeting East Aurora was able to get second and third chances. Last Saturday Obendorf grabbed 9 rebounds and Milan Bojanic had 8 to contain East's offensive rebounders.
East Aurora superstar Ryan Boatright scored 36 points, but 6-foot-6 sophomore Shiv Desai, earning his first start, did what Vozza asked by clogging the middle, grabbing 4 rebounds and blocking 2 shots.
Sean Davis and Ryan Solomon also helped out on the boards, and in the second half the Mustangs got the transition game working. Bojanic and Obendorf hit 3s on Metea's only 2 outside shots taken in the second half, otherwise the Mustangs beat East Aurora at its own run-and-gun game.
"It was really a great win for the program," said Vozza, whose squad has lost only three games by 10 or more points and beat Christ the King 103-47 early in the year.
"We have to understand how we respond from this, going ahead. There's no easy game in our conference and on our schedule."
Team ball:
Graduating two-time All-Area point guard Reggie Greenwood and strong, athletic forward Rob Stein from a team that advanced to a Class 2A supersectional, Timothy Christian (11-7) needed somebody to step up this season.
The Trojans are getting many people stepping up.
"We're coming together and starting to play some better basketball," coach Jack LeGrand said.
Three-year starter Mike Pizzello was seen more as a defender and rebounder, so it seemed that entering the season the scoring mantle would fall primarily on another three-year starter, guard Mark Penczak.
Sophomore Danny Leach, no secret to LeGrand, has emerged as Timothy's top 3-point shooter. Senior Pizzello has picked up his scoring in addition to being the Trojans' top defender with 56 steals, or 3.3 a game.
Entering Wednesday's game against Aurora Christian which Timothy clocked 77-53 Leach led the Trojans at 12.9 points a game on 51 percent shooting. Pizzello clocked in with 12.2 points a game and Penczak averages 10.3 points.
What's even better is that each of Timothy's big three has more assists than turnovers. Rotation regulars Matt Robinson and seniors Nate Ziegler and Chad Vos all are on the positive side of that ledger, which provides more scoring opportunities for juniors Chris Ridolphi and Matt Morrison.
"I think what's really nice is our team right now is like our teams of the past, we're balanced right now. We have Mark Penczak or Mike Pizzello or Danny Leach who will knock a shot down," LeGrand said.
"Though you'd love to have that superstar who could score 30 a game, I think it's nice to have that balance. It's a nice testament to the unselfish play of the boys on our team."
Broncos growing up:
Montini is poised for a solid future. The Broncos might also surprise down the stretch.
Montini (4-11) fields nearly an all-junior cast, most of whom will be playing their third season of varsity basketball next year. Montini's sophomores lead the Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division sophomore level, coach Brian Opoka said Wednesday.
"It's a season of kids believing as opposed to kids hoping and dreaming," Opoka said. "They believe in what we're doing."
One 6-foot-3 reason for belief is the return of junior forward Rich Bodee.
The Broncos' leading scorer at 12 points a game, Bodee scored 21 points in a double-overtime win over Gordon Tech on Dec. 18.
That set the stage for a positive turn at the St. Anthony-Effingham holiday tournament.
On Dec. 19, while walking his dog, Bodee slipped on ice and injured the meniscus in a knee.
Nearly a month later, Bodee returned Jan. 14 against St. Francis. Opoka "turned him loose" Jan. 20 at St. Edward, and Bodee scored 22 points with 11 rebounds in a 75-58 victory.
"He's been an enormous lift for our coaching staff," Opoka said. "The work that he's put in to get his knee rehabbed has been a big addition for us."
Another addition is sophomore guard Logan Goss, who has contributed at least two quarters in the last four varsity games to help solidify the point guard position.
The wins haven't flowed, but the team is getting there. Montini trailed Walther Lutheran by 16 points entering the fourth quarter on Jan. 8, but the Broncos cut the deficit to 2 before losing 55-46.
"Our lack of experience in close games is evident, but now we're growing up," Opoka said.
"We're growing into our bodies. Last year most of the games we were out of pretty quickly. We're still fighting a deficit, but it's not as large and we're giving teams more fits."