Kaneland ready for winner-take-all showdown
As tight as the first Upstate Eight Conference River Division race was most of the year, when the regular season comes to an end Friday night it’s another first-year conference whose champion will be decided on the final night.
Red-hot Kaneland takes a 7-game winning streak and its 7-2 conference record to Rochelle to play the Hubs, also 7-2 in conference. The two teams are tied for the Northern Illinois Big 12 East lead, and the winner will have the championship all to themselves.
The teams got to this point with a pair of 1-point wins last Friday. Kaneland (16-8 overall) avenged an earlier loss to Yorkville with a 53-52 road win while Rochelle won in even more thrilling fashion, 88-87 over DeKalb in double overtime.
“I keep telling the boys it’s in your hands,” Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. “Keep taking care of business and we could do something special.”
In getting to this point, Kaneland can point to the first meeting with Rochelle as a turning point. Rochelle was undefeated in conference at the time, and the Knights trailed 46-27 in the third quarter.
Kaneland managed to come all the way back from 19 points down for a 65-63 victory. Zach Ringhouse nailed 3 key 3s in the rally, the final one closing the deficit from 63-62 with 20 seconds to go. Trever Heinle followed with a steal and layup to complete the stunning comeback.
Sophomore Matt Rosenwinkel led Rochelle with 22 points including six 3-pointers and 20 points in the first half of that game.
While Friday’s contest will decide the conference champion, it might not be the last time the teams play. They are the top two seeds in the Class 3A Sycamore regional and could play the following Friday for a regional title.
New plan of attack: Kaneland’s leading scorer, senior Chaon Denlinger, has one of the best 3-point shots around. Give him an inch and he’ll let it go, and he’s hit 37 of them this year after knocking down 3 more Friday against Yorkville.But Denlinger said one of the reasons for his strong play down the stretch this year #8211; he#146;s averaging a team-high 12.3 points a game #8211; has been taking fewer of those 3s.#147;I used to stand out here and shoot the ball,#148; Denlinger said, pointing to the 3-point line. #147;Coach (Johnson) wanted me to attack the rim more and try to get to the foul line. I only had 8 free throws halfway through the season.#148;Denlinger said he began the year shooting so many 3s in part because it#146;s what he#146;s been used to feeding the ball inside to Dave Dudzinski, the 6-foot-9 star of the last few Kaneland teams Denlinger played on.#147;I#146;ve always had a good guy in the post,#148; Denlinger said. #147;Last year with Dave I#146;d stand out there and he#146;d get me the ball.#148;Defense is still Kaneland#146;s calling card, and Johnson has been impressed with how Denlinger has raised his level on that end. For the past couple years, Johnson always played offense-defense substitutions with Denlinger and took him out in late-game situations.#147;I#146;m proud of guys like Chaon Denlinger who has got so much better on defense,#148; Johnson said. #147;He probably looks like a different player than he was three weeks ago. He#146;s not settling for outside jumpers, he#146;s rebounding.#148;Turning heads: With all the college attention St. Charles East sophomore Kendall Stephens received this year on his way to committing to Purdue, a sophomore on the other side of town also has been getting a lot of looks.Michigan, Illinois, Davidson and Notre Dame have come to St. Charles North this year to watch Quinten Payne. Oregon State came to the North Stars#146; game against Perspectives at Chicago State. Xavier, George Mason, DePaul, Wisconsin and Miami are among the other schools that have shown interest.Meanwhile at Batavia, junior Cole Gardner has the ability to play basketball or football in college.#147;I#146;m not sure yet. It could go both ways,#148; Gardner said. #147;I like them both but it#146;s going more football, that#146;s what#146;s coming in more.#148;