Prep primer: A look at what's hot in prep sports
Thursday night football dominated the local prep sports scene, with Elk Grove coming away with a huge win over Prospect, and Stevenson surprising Lake Zurich among other games in Cook and Lake counties.
Triumphant return for Basara
There were plenty of tears on the Elk Grove sideline after its Mid-Suburban East football game at Prospect's George Gattas Memorial Stadium Thursday. They were tears of joy. Dejan Basara, recovering from a broken collarbone and cleared to play in a non-contact role by the doctors on Wednesday, drilled a 38-yard field goal with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, giving the Grens a 24-21 victory. Full story.
Micucci, Stevenson stun Lake Zurich
School district borders can be wacky sometimes. Matt Micucci lives in Lake Zurich. It's a fact that adds a little bit of insult to the injury felt by fans of the Lake Zurich football team. Technically, the Bears got beaten by one of their own on Thursday night. A hometown boy, anyway. Micucci, the starting quarterback at Stevenson, which entered the night chasing Lake Zurich and Lake Forest for first place in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division standings, was a load. He completed 18 of 23 passes for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns, and he also kicked a 42-yard field goal to help the host Patriots get a frenetic 24-17 final-minute victory over Lake Zurich. Full story.
Nine alive in Fox Valley
Conference races and playoff prospects are coming into focus with two thirds of the high school football season already in the books. Fox Valley columnist Jerry Fitzpatrick tells us there are nine teams in the Fox still alive for a playoff berth. Full story.
Exciting finish in DuPage County
Not a week goes by without at least a couple of pretty great football games in DuPage County. The last three weeks of this regular season, however, will be especially special, as DuPage columnist Kevin Schmit tells us. As we've recently seen in Major League Baseball, sometimes the race to get to the playoffs is more exciting than the actual playoffs. Similarly, the buildup to the IHSA football playoffs shouldn't be missed. Full story.
Woodstock North stuns Grayslake Central
Zero is a number that has many different meanings. Heading into Thursday's night Fox Valley Fox division matchup with host Woodstock North, the Grayslake Central Rams sported a cool 6-0 record. At the end of this contest, the Rams still had a zero, but not the one they wanted. On Thursday, it denoted the points scored by Graysalke Central as the host Thunder rolled to a 25-0 victory. Full story.
Batavia wants another one
Batavia looks to repeat as the girls tennis champion of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division this weekend. Among the squad's leaders is senior Kaitlin Mills. A co-captain along with her No. 1 doubles partner Hannah Potter, Mills is in her third straight year as a No. 1 doubles player after debuting at No. 3 doubles as a freshman. The 5-foot-7 Mills is a Memphis native who moved to Cincinnati and then to Batavia in 2006. In his Sidelines column, Dave Oberhleman gets Mills' thoughts on her final high school season.
Latest on high school football
Several schools shifted their games from Friday to last night because of Yom Kippur starts today. The complete list of scores from last night and the schedule for tonight's games can be found here.