Seniors showing Montini the way
There’s nothing like senior leadership. Montini’s boys basketball team is proof.
Three-year starters Rich Bodee, Tyshawn Johnson and Jim Miller and fellow seniors such as Ben Brady, Jon Gibbs and Dan Burke have weathered lean times and come out stronger.
Entering Friday’s Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division contest at Immaculate Conception with 10 wins, Montini is one victory from equaling its total for the past three seasons. Over recent years that’s even a more dramatic improvement than Hinsdale Central under Nick Latorre — 10 wins so far this season after campaigns of 5 and 8 victories.
“The biggest thing we’re able to do now is we’re competing in every game,” said Broncos coach Brian Opoka, whose primary rotation also offers juniors Logan Goss, Pat Mooney, Brian Orr, Cam Roedel and Sean Nash and the rare Broncos big man, sophomore Matt Brachmann.
Montini won 6 games last season, 3 in 2009-10, and 2 in Opoka’s first season in Lombard. At a school where several athletic programs expect to challenge for state titles every year, those numbers may feel daunting. That could be why Montini fielded a total of three seniors the prior two seasons. In that 3-win year both seniors were no longer on the team by January.
The players who stuck it out, including a pair of SCC all-conference returnees in Johnson and Bodee, have been rewarded on and off the court. The cohesiveness within the program — which sees both freshman and sophomore teams over .500 — has solidified, Opoka said, as well fan support. After all, he said, it’s hard to get seniors to come to games when there are no seniors to cheer for.
“We’ve gotten a lot of extra pats on the back that we didn’t receive in the past,” said Opoka, who is headed with the team for a service project at Marklund Center for Children in Bloomingdale on Saturday.
Montini admittedly benefitted by a move from the more rugged SCC Blue to the Gold and will be challenged Friday by 17-2 Immaculate Conception, which won 58-55 on Dec. 10.
Still, the Broncos have defeated a Northridge Prep team that came in 12-4, beat a decent Westmont squad by 16 points and topped the No. 1 seed, St. Anthony, at the St. Anthony/Effingham holiday tournament.
“We’ve had some good fortune go our way, we’ve got a lot of experience from our guys, and they’ve answered the call,” Opoka said.
Millennium man:According to St. Francis coach Bob Ward, in the Spartans#146; 71-38 win over Guerin on Tuesday, senior Ryan Coyle scored the 1,000th point of his four-year varsity career. It came in the first half, as did most of Coyle#146;s 10 rebounds as Ward played his bench most of the second half.The 6-foot-6 all-Suburban Christian Conference forward, a three-year starter, has overcome what Ward called a #147;horrific#148; injury in July when on a hard foul Coyle crashed to the ground, breaking a clavicle and suffering a concussion.#147;Head trauma,#148; the friendly Coyle put it after the Spartans#146; Jan. 13 victory over Aurora Christian. He#146;s battled through it to attract nearly every Division III program in the Midwest, Ward said, and some Division II programs.On the road again and again:Perhaps the biggest day of the season for Naperville Central arrives next week. The Redhawks are playing a home game.It may not sound like a big deal, but the last time they played on their home court was a Dec. 3 win over Waubonsie Valley. Fifty-nine days and 14 games later, the Redhawks are back home.#147;Tuesday#146;s the big day,#148; said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. #147;It#146;s been tough, but our guys have done a pretty good job with it.#148;Heading into Wednesday#146;s DuPage Valley Conference game at West Chicago, Naperville Central was 6-4 during its road trip. Not bad for a team that leans heavily on a trio of sophomores in Nick Czarnowski, Austin Pauga and Ryan Antony.#147;There#146;s wear and tear, but sometimes being on the road helps a team,#148; Kramer said. #147;The pressure of playing in front of a big home crowd isn#146;t there.#148;Because of the quirk in the schedule that caused the giant road trip, there#146;s a reward down the stretch. Naperville Central will play six of its last seven regular-season games at home, including six straight in the DVC.#147;Hopefully, having those six straight games will help us,#148; Kramer said. Reinforcement:A welcome face took the court for West Chicago on Saturday as Jajuan Cosby saw his first game action of the season. Cosby played in a junior varsity game that morning before scoring 4 points in a 58-51 varsity win over Glenbard South in the afternoon.Cosby, a transfer from Rockford Guilford, needed to sit out the first semester at West Chicago. The senior guard would have been eligible to make his debut last Friday against Naperville Central if not for the weather postponement.#147;He gives us another dimension we didn#146;t have,#148; said Wildcats coach Kevin Baldus. #147;He has quickness, he#146;s a kid who can handle the ball and not turn it over. He#146;s a hard-nosed, #145;yes sir, no sir#146; kind of kid, and he#146;ll do what we need to get done and help us learn how to win.#148; Cosby arrives at West Chicago with some big games in his past. At last year#146;s Elgin holiday tournament he hit seven 3-pointers and scored 29 points in a win over Willowbrook.Baldus expects Cosby to improve with every game he plays.#147;He#146;s rusty,#148; Baldus said. #147;It might be a couple of weeks before we see what we#146;ll get out of him. It#146;s nice to get an opportunity to see him do more than practice.#148;Big names, big night:Benet will honor six decades of basketball history Friday as the Redwings play host to Notre Dame in a key East Suburban Catholic Conference game.Program legends such as Bobby and Kevin Conrad, Mike Lang, John Bajusz and Dave Sobolewski will be on hand on a night that will begin with an alumni basketball game at 6 p.m. in Benet#146;s historic Alumni Gym.#147;It#146;s going to be special to have everyone back,#148; said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. #147;There are going to be a lot of great players here.#148;More than 75 alums, including members of the Redwings#146; 1979 third-place Class AA team like Lang and Kevin Conrad, will be honored at halftime of the varsity game. A postgame reception will take place in the school cafeteria.Worth the boos:One never knows what kind of rants will emerge from the student sections during a game between Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley. But one wonders what Neuqua Valley senior Peter Catchings did to earn boos by the Waubonsie fans whenever he touched the ball in Neuqua#146;s 50-48 win on Tuesday.The 6-foot-3 forward was stumped. Maybe, he thought, it was a dubious tribute to older brother Bobby Catchings, the former Neuqua star. Maybe he was simply the pin cushion du jour.There was a reason for Waubonsie fans to boo Catchings #8212; his defense on Warriors star Jared Brownridge. The junior did score a team-high 17 points and popped a game-tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, but Catchings never allowed Brownridge to explode, holding him below his nearly 22-point average.#147;Jared#146;s a great player,#148; Catchings said. #147;He really likes to get his shot off the bounce and I try to take that away, try to cram his shot, make sure that I always have a hand in his face and make sure that he doesn#146;t get any clean looks.#148;Catchings#146; effectiveness did not surprise Neuqua coach Todd Sutton. #147;All year long we#146;ve been talking about his great defense,#148; the coach said.Sutton said Catchings #147;knew exactly what to do#148; in guarding Brownridge. Though it veered from normal tactics, the result was seen on the scoreboard. #147;On a drive (Catchings) didn#146;t help,#148; Sutton said. #147;Normally, on all defensive assignments you help on a hard drive and then recover. We didn#146;t help off Jared, and most people would sag in. If we would have, Jared would have made a 3.#148;