Scouting Fox Valley area holiday tournaments
By John Lemon
jlemon@dailyherald.com
The annual holiday basketball tournament season gives teams a chance to see different competition and learn a lot about where they are headed in the second half, and this year certainly is no exception for the Fox Valley area teams.
While Dundee-Crown is hosting the Komaromy Classic for the 35th year, the majority of area schools are headed to locations around the suburbs - some going north, several east, a few south ... while Burlington Central treks west to Dixon for the first time.
Five local teams enter the field at Wheaton North: Bartlett, Elgin, Jacobs, St. Charles East and West Aurora. Four head to Dundee-Crown; besides the host Chargers there's Hampshire, St. Charles North and South Elgin.
The annual land mine known as the Montini Christmas Classic includes Batavia, Geneva and Huntley, and three parochial schools - Harvest Christian, Rosary and St. Edward - head to Lisle.
Libertyville hosts Cary-Grove and Streamwood. After that, there's a handful of tournaments where a lone local team will test its mettle: Larkin at Warren, Aurora Central Catholic at Oswego East, Aurora Christian at Earlville, Kaneland at Ottawa, and the aforementioned Rockets head to Dixon.
Here's a closer look at a few of the marquee tournaments.
Dundee-Crown: Two teams have been added to this year's field - Trinity and South Elgin.
A number of heavyweights are once again entered including Maine West, Naperville Central, New Trier, Maine South, Trinity, Stevenson and Hononegah.
"It is going to be another competitive tournament," Chargers coach Sarah Miller said.
Senior point guard Kennedy White and freshman Gianine Boado have been among the bright spots for the Chargers (7-4).
"Kennedy has stepped up big this season," Miller said. "We are looking forward to being very competitive."
Dundee-Crown opens the tournament against Trinity at 7 p.m. Dec. 26.
Other local matchups include Hampshire against Hononegah at 10 a.m., South Elgin vs. New Trier at 11:30 a.m., and St. Charles North in the last game of the night against Maine South at 8:30 p.m.
South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack is looking forward to the Storm's first tournament appearance.
"Joe Komaromy and Sarah Miller put together a first-rate tourney," Mandernack said. "The teams in the tourney are always great. One of the best tournaments all year in the state."
The Storm already played Hononegah in their first game of the year and junior Jordan King, who Mandernack called possibly the best player in the state.
"I hope to see the team compete with some of the best teams around, hustle, win individual battles, and play our style of basketball," Mandernack said. "I also want them to learn the intensity and atmosphere these games will bring. Every game will be a battle and grind. We have a lot of inexperienced players that are realizing the intensity and speed of varsity games and they are adjusting and improving nicely."
Perhaps nobody exemplifies that more than senior Catora Brown.
"She has been leading us and is having a breakout year," Mandernack said. "She did not play last year behind two all-area players. She never complained or pouted, kept working and working. Her passion, heart, desire to win, and compete every second on the court is contagious."
Wheaton North: Bartlett makes its first trip to Wheaton North after playing at Dundee-Crown the past several years.
First-year coach Brad Hunt called his senior Kayla Hare one of the best players in the tournament. She is averaging 19.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals.
The future is bright for the Hawks because of two freshmen. Lexie Sinclair is averaging 15 points and 3 assists a game while Justina Hernandez is averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds.
Hunt called host Wheaton North the tournament favorite.
"Wheaton North is exceptionally talented and the defending champ with everyone back," Hunt said. "A number of teams have the ability of putting together a nice run over four days. Glenbard South is really good. West Aurora and Palatine have started off the year really fast."
Hunt put his Hawks in a group that could "get hot and make some noise," along with Elk Grove, St. Charles East, Downers Grove North and Glenbrook South.
The Hawks open against Jacobs at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 26. The Golden Eagles are the No. 6 seed.
"We love Wheaton North because of the high level of competition we'll face," Jacobs coach Joe Benoit said. "All of the teams are well-coached and well prepared. It's also nice we won't see any FVC teams and can really gauge where we are at midseason."
Like Hunt, Benoit called the No. 1 seeded Falcons the favorite.
"The field this year is loaded again and I really feel like Wheaton North is the team to beat if you want to win the title," Benoit said. "As for our team, we're hoping to improve on some of our in-game goals especially on the defensive end of the floor. We're also hoping to develop some consistency as we try to take another step forward with our young team."
Jacobs senior and four-year varsity player Kerri Healy is averaging 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds a game including 19 points against Crystal Lake South.
"She has embraced her role and carried our team," Benoit said.
Sophomore Elizabeth Schwartz has improved her scoring average from 3.4 points as a freshman to 10 a game.
Retiring West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl has taken the Blackhawks to Wheaton North all 12 of her seasons, and she said West Aurora has been in the field for the past 22 years.
"The tournament is very organized, good officials and strong teams and great food," said Siljendahl, who expects her team to compete with Wheaton North, Glenbard South and Glenbrook South.
"I want to see growth. Strengthen our defense," Siljendahl said. "Any given day we have a new star. It's like they take turns. My goal is for all my strong players to be strong at the same time."
At Montini: By taking third at this tournament last year, losing a heartbreaker to Montini in the final seconds in the semifinals, Geneva said it gained the confidence it needed to bring home the Class 4A state championship two months later.
Off to a 10-0 start with four starters back from its state team, Geneva once again is looking to this tournament to see where it stacks up against the state's best.
"It's always fun no matter how we do," said senior guard Margaret Whitley, who won tournament MVP honors last year. "It's very big for us. It's the tournament that every single game will be a good game. Win or lose it really helps us because it shows us what we need to work on halfway though the season."
Geneva's first game this year comes bright and early at 8 a.m. on the 27th against St. Joseph. If the Vikings win, they move into an 8:30 p.m. game the following night.
"I'm really excited to see exactly what we're made of," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. "It's going to be a really nice challenge for us. We have some pretty big goals as a team. I'm excited to see our kids compete at the level they can compete at."
Huntley will have its hands full in the opener at 3 p.m. on the 27th against Montini while Batavia plays Nazareth at 6:30 p.m.
At Lisle: After playing at the Alden Hebron Christmas tournament last year, Harvest Christian makes its first appearance at Lisle where the Lions will see some bigger schools.
"We knew that there would be solid competition at this tournament, which would help prepare us for the postseason," first-year Harvest coach Jeff Boldog said. "I think that Walther Christian, St. Edward and St. Francis are the favorites for this tournament. There are a lot of solid teams, so it's difficult to pick just one."
Newcomers Elena Porrata and Grace Ringel are making a big impact for the 10-3 Lions. Porrata is averaging just under 12 points a game and has hit 32 shots from 3-point range, and Ringel is averaging 8 points and 1.5 blocks per game.
Returning all-stater Alyssa Iverson was hampered by injuries early on, but is coming on strong. In the past two weeks she's scored 30 points against Harlan and 22 points against Resurrection to up her season averages to 16 points, 4 assists and 4 steals per game.
"I think we match up well with the other schools (at Lisle), but will need to be playing solid basketball each and every game," Boldog said. "I am looking forward to seeing how we come together as a team against high level competition and how the girls respond."
At Libertyville: Rod Saffert's Cary-Grove Trojans head to Libertyville for the second year. They used to play at Mundelein before that tournament disbanded.
"I like that it's got a team like Rolling Meadows coming in this year," Saffert said. "I also like that it's four days in a row, one game per day, right after Christmas."
Saffert said Rolling Meadows is a favorite along with an interesting team from Danville, Indiana - the home-schooled Indy Blazers.
"Apparently they are very good," Saffert said.
Senior Katie Sowa remains Cary-Grove's go-to player with averages of 15.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Junior Maddie Jannusch, a 5-10 post, has been emerging.
"She has been stepping up for us the past couple of games," Saffert said. "She's a force to reckon with inside. She's a very quick, strong post player who is tough to defend in the post. I look for her, and others, to have breakout games during this tournament.
"I hope to see us play consistent. We have been struggling with that concept all season so far. I would like to see us put four good quarters together in every game."