Mundelein's Sawvell rises to the top
Most parents are lucky to get the first year or two of their kids' lives chronicled via scrap-booking.
It's too hard to keep up.
Then there's Christine Sawvell. She's such an avid scrap-booker that she breaks the years down into seasons. Sports seasons.
“I love my mom, but she's almost nutty with the scrap-booking. She is so into it,” Mundelein senior Ryan Sawvell said with a laugh. “But it's fun to look back on all of the things she does.
“She made a bunch of stuff for me back when I used to play baseball. She even made a book for me just for my prom. She's made a lot of stuff for basketball. She just loves to document everything.”
Christine has been on scrap-booking overload this winter.
Ryan, the Mustangs' Division I superstar, has given her more than enough material to work with.
Mundelein is enjoying one of its best boys basketball seasons in school history. With a 29-4 mark heading into Friday's Barrington sectional championship against Warren, the second-seeded Mustangs have broken the school record for wins in a season.
At the center of it all has been Mundelein's dominant center.
Of course, that's Sawvell, who looms large in the paint at 6-foot-8. A premier scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker, Sawvell will graduate and head to the University of Evansville as one of the best players in Mundelein history.
He'll also go down as one of the best centers in Lake County history. And that's a big reason Sawvell has been named the honorary captain of the Daily Herald's 2010-11 Lake County All-Area team.
“Ryan has had as good a season as any kid I've ever coached,” Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. “He's always been very athletic. He's always been able to jump and he's always had great body control. This past summer, he improved his skills and he added a lot of toughness. He also became a great senior leader for us. He kind of just put it all together and when you wrap all that up in a 6-foot-8 body, I'm telling you, we're spoiled as coaches.
“Ryan is God's gift to a coach and life without him next year isn't going to be pleasant.”
No doubt Sawvell will be tough to replace, on the court and in the stat book.
Sawvell was the only player in Lake County this season to average a double-double, with 19 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
Just as amazing, he connected on 63 percent of his field goals even though he was double- or triple-teamed in every single game.
“The thing that's so tough about Ryan is that even with two people, he's still tough to guard,” Knar said. “He gets to the basket so quickly. Or he'll just shoot over you. He rises so high.”
Sawvell's jumping ability serves him well for electrifying dunks as well as his favorite part of the game: blocked shots.
He's registered more than 90 blocks for about 3 blocks per game.
In Mundelein's regional championship victory over Waukegan last weekend, Sawvell swatted 8 shots to go along with his 32 points and 10 rebounds.
“Last year, I had only 32 blocks for the season and my coaches kind of got on me about that in the off season a little bit,” Sawvell said. “They were like, ‘You're the tallest kid out there. Why aren't you blocking more shots? I took that to heart and really worked on the way I played on the defensive end. I tried to be more focused on where I should be, on my timing.
“I think this year, I've taken defense more personally and I've been pretty happy with how I've been able to block so many more shots. It's been a huge part of my game.”
Sawvell admits his game wouldn't be the same without teammate Robert Knar.
The sharp-shooting sophomore guard actually leads Mundelein in scoring at 20 points per game. Although Sawvell commands plenty of defensive attention already, he'd likely be surrounded even more if Knar wasn't constantly threatening from the perimeter.
“I just can't say enough about Robert,” Sawvell said. “I don't know what I would have done without him. Having him out there opens it up for me inside, even if it's just a little bit.
“I think I probably open things up for him, too. After every game he'll always come up to me and tell me what a good job I did inside.”
Sawvell is used to hearing words of encouragement from members of the Knar family.
When Sawvell was in seventh grade and playing nothing but baseball, it was Dick Knar who talked up basketball. The coach told Sawvell he could be a college star someday.
“Even when I was in seventh grade and I hadn't played basketball yet, Coach Knar was telling me I could be a mid-major Division I player,” Sawvell said. “At first, I didn't believe what he was saying just because I was starting basketball so late. But then I understood. I realized if I kept working that I could make it. And here we are. ”
The University of Evansville awaits.
And so does four more years worth of scrap-booking material.