Hampshire’s Watzlawick to miss Burlington Central game

With an eye toward the opening game of the Class 3A playoffs in 11 days, Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said Thursday he will keep center Tyler Watzlawick inactive for tonight’s game against visiting Burlington Central.

Watzlawick, a 6-foot-7 junior, tore two ligaments in his right ankle in a 46-20 victory over Marengo on Feb. 8. He leads Hampshire in scoring (13.6 ppg.) and rebounding (9.3).

Watzlawick has not played since the injury, though the Whip-Purs won two games in his absence to extend their winning streak to 13 straight, the longest streak in Barnett’s nine years in charge of the program.

Hampshire (19-4, 9-0) has already clinched a share of the Big Northern East title and could win it outright by completing the season sweep of rival Central (14-9, 7-1). The Whip-Purs won the first meeting 68-51 on Rocket Hill on Jan. 15.

However, the absence of Watzlawick could open the door for the second-place Rockets, who still have an outside shot at gaining a share of the BNE title. Central must beat Hampshire and win at Richmond-Burton (12-12, 5-5) on Feb. 25 to split the title.

Barnett said Watzlawick is still favoring his injured ankle.

“He went a little bit (Thursday),” Barnett said. “He ran through a couple of drills and I could see that he was taking a short step with his right foot and coming down on his left when he was jumping. That tells me it’s still sore.

“He wants to go and the kids want him to go, but I see the bigger picture. I told him flat out he wasn’t going to like what I had to say. I know it’s tough for him and it’s tough for the team, but we’ve achieved one goal and we had several this year.”

One of those goals is to win the Class 3A Hampshire regional. The Whips are the No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 Marmion in a regional semifinal on Tuesday, March 1.

Hardworking senior Pat Dumoulin (4.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg.) will take Watzlawick’s place in the starting lineup against the Rockets, who have won 5 of their last 6 games since losing to Hampshire.

“I like the way we’ve been playing lately,” said Central coach Brett Porto. “We’re just going to approach it like we’ve approached the last few games. We’re a different group this year. We’re even different in this last month with some new faces and changing roles. Hopefully, it’ll pay off for us.”

After an offensively challenged first half in the last meeting against Hampshire, a span in which the Rockets were outscored 36-14, Porto made changes.

The first change was to move junior scoring guard Ray Hunnicutt to the point. Sophomore guard Ryan Ritchie has taken on more of the scoring load in support of Hunnicutt (17 ppg., 6.8 rpg) and Sam Klein (16.7 ppg., 8.8 rpg.). Porto also elevated guard Bryce Warner from the sophomore team.

The results have been dramatic. Central’s only loss in its last 6 games came against Upstate Eight River champion Elgin (19-5).

“Ray’s point totals have gone down, but his assists have gone up,” Porto said. “We’re getting the ball to different people and it’s made a big difference in our transition game. “We’ve got some confidence and we’re playing well. Hopefully, that carries over (against Hampshire).”

Barnett said he expects Watzlawick to return to the lineup next Saturday when the Whip-Purs play a nonconference tuneup at South Elgin.

The Valley finale: In what has quickly become one of the area’s fiercest rivalries, South Elgin and Bartlett will lock horns for the second time this season on Saturday at 6 p.m.

South Elgin (13-9, 5-4 UEC Valley) beat visiting Bartlett (15-13, 4-6) 44-36 on Jan. 7 in front of an audience of raucous students from both schools. The rematch was delayed two weeks due to the blizzard.

The Storm enter this contest on the heels of 4 straight wins, including quality victories over Waubonsie Valley (15-9) and Barrington (17-9).

“We’ve been getting closer and closer as a group as it winds down here,” South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. “I think our focus and attention to detail has been a lot better in practice. It’s the little things. Nothing spectacular happened, but our seniors got with the team and has them buckling down for our last few games and the playoffs.”

South Elgin is rolling, but Bartlett is even hotter. The Hawks have rebounded from a 7-game losing streak by winning 7 of their last 8. They enter Saturday’s game winners of five straight, a stretch that included victories over Waubonsie Valley, UEC Valley champion East Aurora (19-5), Metea Valley (13-12) and Wheaton North (11-12).

Bartlett allowed opponents an average of 56.5 points through its first 20 games, but the Hawks have limited teams to 48.7 points per game in their last 8 games. That’s a different team than what Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith is used to fielding.

“We’re usually kind of a run-and-gun team so we’d score 66 and give up 65,” Wolfsmith said. “What the kids have done is they’ve started to learn the value of good possession basketball, and we’re defending the ball a lot better.

“And we’ve changed up our offense a little bit from what we started the year with. It seems to be working better for us.”

Bartlett has switched from the dribble-drive offense (used by South Elgin) to five-out. The result has been more balanced scoring, whereas previously opponents only had to shut down either sophomore scorer Lance Whitaker or senior guard Matt Chaltin and they stood a good chance of shutting down the Hawks.

“They’re taking better shots and they’re running better offense,” Taft said. “They’re playing better basketball. They’re tough.”

Spotting bald (Golden) Eagles: The Jacobs student section could appear follicly challenged during tonight’s rematch against rival Dundee-Crown in Algonquin.

In an homage to head coach Jim Hinkle, who waved goodbye to the last of his hair many, many moons ago, the Jacobs student council is raising funds this week by selling bald caps to be worn at the game.

“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so we’ll see how many skull caps there are,” Hinkle said. “There should be a lot — they’re only selling them for a buck.”