Cook County boys basketball notes: Meadows' title at York highlights area holiday finishers
There are still some Christmas presents remaining from holiday tournaments as area teams are back in school.
Rolling Meadows came away as the biggest winner during the Holiday tournaments. The Mustangs were impressive in winning the Jack Tosh York tournament.
Meadows won all five games in the 32-team tournament en route to their first championship. The Mustangs won all their games by double digits. They did have to come from behind to beat Glenbrook South and ended up knocking off the Titans by 10 points.
Cameron Christie was the tournament MVP. He Averaged 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3 assists. Mark Nikolich-Wilson averaged 13.6 points, Ian Miletic 8.4 points and Foster Ogbonna 6.8 rebounds.
Nikolich-Wilson and Tsvet Sotirov, who returned to play after missing four games with an injury, were named to the all-tournament team.
Meadows (14-2) came back and lost on a last-second shot to state-ranked Joliet West last Saturday.
Also at the Tosh was Palatine. The Pirates won their first two games with wins over Wheaton North and Yorkville before losing to tournament runner-up Lyons and Riverside-Brookfield.
Connor May had a great tournament, averaging 26 points per game. That earned May a place on the all-tournament team. It also earned May, who is a junior, an offer from Lewis University.
Palatine (12-5) had a tough return to regular-season action when they lost to crosstown-rival Fremd last week and beat Hersey in double overtime on Tuesday.
Conant also went 2-2 at the Tosh. The Cougars had a roller coaster type tournament. They won their opener with Andrew, lost to Lemont and York and beat Waubonsie Valley in their final game.
Camden Lathos averaged 14.8 points and scored 21 points in the Cougars' final game. Brad Biedke averaged 11.8 points.
Conant (8-7) came back to beat Schaumburg last week and lost to Prospect on Tuesday
Schaumburg went 1-3 at the Tosh. The Saxons lost to Riverside -Brookfield, Glenbard West and Batavia and had a win over Leo.
Jordan Tunis continues to draw interest from college scouts. The sophomore averaged 14 points per game in the tournament. Also playing well for the Saxons was senior Edvin Bosjnak.
After their loss to Conant on Friday, Schaumburg (7-11) beat Elgin Academy on Saturday and lost to Rolling Meadows on Tuesday.
A team that really exceeded expectations was Hersey, which was seeded 13th at Pekin.
The Huskies first knocked off third-seeded Richwoods and then came back to beat the host Dragons.
That moved Hersey into the semifinals where they finally succumbed to eventual tournament winner Mt. Carmel. Hersey made sure that they came home with some solid hardware when they beat fourth-seeded Morton in the third-place game.
Max Meninga averaged 12.5 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Jonathan Ryg averaged 11.8 points, Jared Ryg 10.5 points and Jackson Hupp, 9.3 points.
Hersey (11-9) lost last Friday to Prospect by one point and to Palatine on Tuesday in double overtime.
Barrington finished third at the Hinkle tournament at Jacobs. Barrington, which went into the tournament unbeaten on the regular season, rolled past Streamwood and Cary-Grove in the first two games. The Broncos then dropped a four-overtime thriller to eventual champion Grayslake Central. Barrington beat Hoffman Estates for third place.
Dillon Schmidt and Donovan Nichols were both named to the all-tournament team.
The Broncos (13-1) came back a few days later to beat Hoffman again and Elk Grove on Tuesday.
Hoffman Estates (9-8) also had success at the Hinkle. The Hawks won their first two games before losing to runner-up Crystal Lake South and then to Barrington to finish fourth.
DJ Wallace was named to the all-tournament team with averages of 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks.
Elk Grove made their first trip to the Hinkle and went 1-3. They lost their first three games before rolling past Streamwood. Bronson Bartuch averaged 31 points per game while Josh Mottley and Dylan McCorry each averaged 10 points.
Elk Grove (4-11) lost to Barrington on Tuesday.
Maine South is showing resiliency.
The Hawks lost their opener at Hinsdale Central to Marian Catholic. Maine South came back the next three days to beat Willowbrook, St. Charles East and Lincoln-Way Central to win the consolation title.
Kaden Karstens, who is a senior guard, was the leading scorer, averaging 12 points. Freshman Panayiotis Sotos had a breakout game against St. Charles East with 21 points, shooting 5-7 from outside the arc. Sophomore point guard Tyler Sierra has stepped in and is currently the team's leading scorer averaging 10 points.
Maine South (6-9) came back from tournament play and fell just two points short of Evanston last Friday.
Per usual, the Wheeling Hardwood Classic had a plethora of area teams.
Fremd (10-6) finished fourth after losing to tournament runner-up Glenbrook North by one point and the third-place game to Neuqua Valley by three points. Ryan Sammons was named to all-tournament team.
St. Viator (8-10) went 2-2 in the tournament. The Lions lost to Niles North in the consolation championship game. Eli Aldana, who averaged 16.8 points, was named to the all-tournament team.
Prospect (9-8) also went 2-2 in the tournament. The Knights won their opener with Niles North, lost to Fremd and then another loss, this time to Notre Dame by one point. They finished the tournament on a high note with a win over Hampshire.
Alex Georgakas and Ben Schneider continue to lead the Knights in scoring. Georgakas had a tournament high of 17 and Schneider had 12 in the win against Hampshire.
Buffalo Grove (8-10) was down and up in the tournament. They lost Neuqua Valley, beat Prosser, lost to Viator and beat Perspectives. Connor Woodin, who is a junior point guard, was named to the all-tournament team, averaging 21 points per game.
Maine West (3-15) went 1-3 in the tournament. But the Warriors were so close to breaking even. They lost their final game in the tournament to Antioch in triple overtime. David Hutchinson, who is a junior guard, averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Warriors' final two games.
Wheeling (6-9) was able to knock off Prosser in their final game to pick up a win at their tournament. AJ Marchetti averaged 10 points per game and tallied 18 in a game against Perspectives. Zach Zalewski had 15 points and 11 rebounds against Prosser.
Maine East (10-6) is experiencing a huge turnaround.
The Demons showed how far they have come thus far when they advanced all the way to the title game of their own tournament. Unfortunately, they fell in double overtime to Niles West.
Dave Flowers was named tournament MVP and scored 19 points in the title game. Samy Salem also played well for East and had 17 points in the finals.
Leyden (10-6) finished third at Maine East. Leyden won its first two games, before falling to Niles West in the semifinals. Leyden then bounced back in the third-place game to beat Providence.
Katovich picks up 300th win:
Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich picked up his 300th career win when his Mustangs beat Schaumburg 66-27 on Tuesday.
"I actually had no idea," said Katovich, who is in his 21st year as head coach.
"To win at a public high school you need talented players with high character and great assistants. Thankfully, we have had all that at Rolling Meadows. The head coach has very little to do with it. "