Boys basketball: Wheeling’s 45th Hardwood Classic highlights Cook County holiday tournaments
Here is a look at where Cook area boys basketball teams will be bouncing the roundball for the holiday season:
Hardwood Classic at Wheeling
Dec. 23, 26-28
Area teams: Buffalo Grove, Fremd, Maine West, Prospect, St. Viator, Wheeling
Outlook: For 45 years, the Hardwood Classic has been one of the great holiday gifts to area programs as well as basketball fans in the Northwest suburbs. This year it will feature six area teams in the field. The Hardwood also welcomes back Stevenson, which returns to the Hardwood Classic. The Patriots lead a group of Lake County teams that includes Wauconda and Libertyville along with Deerfield.
Buffalo Grove (3-6), which is led by sophomore Alex Sirbu (12.6 ppg, 9.1 reb) and Edwin Karnauchovas (11 ppg), will open the tournament again this year at 9 a.m. with the Bison taking on a solid Deerfield team.
St. Viator (4-3), which has been paced by Dawson Charles (12 ppg, 5 reb) and Henry Marshall (11 ppg, 4 reb), will then meet Wauconda at 10:30. Prospect (4-5), which has got tremendous play from Ben Schneider (17 ppg), who is fully recovered from his knee injury last year, will then take on Oak Forest at 12:15 p.m. Maine West (4-4) which is paced by sophomores Davion Tate (15 ppg, 2 assists) and Baker Blevins (8 ppg, 2.7 assists), will play top-seeded Downers Grove North (7-0) at 2 p.m. The Trojans are an addition to the field this year.
Fremd (8-1), which is playing very well and is led by Jordan Williams (17.3 ppg), Sam Hirsch (13.9 ppg) and Rafael Pinto (13.9 ppg), is the top team in the bottom of the bracket and will play Hampshire at 3:45. Next will be a game that will feature some hard-nosed hoops with Stevenson (6-3) and Notre Dame. Tournament host Wheeling (3-5), which has received solid play from Brent Collar (15 ppg), Zack Neukirch (10 ppg) and Jesus 'Chuy' Zavala (7 ppg), will play last year’s runner-up Glenbrook North (5-4) at 7:30. Libertyville (6-1) wraps up the first round against Streamwood at 8:45.
Hinkle Holiday Tournament at Jacobs
Dec. 21, 23, 26-27
Area teams: Barrington, Elk Grove
Outlook: The Hinkle always kicks things off early and this year is no exception. The 24th annual tournament begins this Saturday with a 9 a.m. wake-up call for Barrington (4-2). The Broncos will be leaning heavily on Oliver Gray (20 ppg) and Bruce LeBlanc (12 ppg) as they open the tournament with Prairie Ridge.
Elk Grove (0-9), which is led by Cooper Casterton (8.9 ppg), Nolan Brand (7.4 ppg) and Dean Park (6.3 ppg), has drawn a tough assignment in their first-round matchup against state-ranked and tournament favorite Waubonsie Valley (8-0).
Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic at Hinsdale Central
Dec. 26-28, 30th
Area teams: Maine South, Schaumburg
Outlook: Hinsdale Central enters its ninth tournament with a star-studded field that includes Niles North, Brother Rice, Morgan Park, Marian Catholic and host Hinsdale Central.
Maine South (3-5), which is led by Rico D'Alessandro (18 ppg), Panayiotis Sotos (15 ppg) and Jack Sladky (10 ppg), opens the tournament at 9 a.m. with Oswego East. Schaumburg (6-2), which as been paced by Jordan Tunis (15.8 ppg), Zion Young (13.3 ppg 11.2 reb), Javonte McCoy (7.8 ppg) and Tony Horton (7.3 ppg), opens with Morgan Park at 8:30 p.m. A win by the Saxons would match them against unbeaten Niles North in the second round.
Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York
Dec. 26-28, 30-31
Area teams: Conant. Palatine, Rolling Meadows
Outlook: The Tosh will be in its 50th year and 49th tournament with competition in 2021 canceled. It should be another terrific tournament with 32 teams playing in two gyms. If you go early on the first day, you can see all three MSL teams within a few hours.
Rolling Meadows (8-1), which won the title in 2021, has balanced scoring in Ian Miletic (17 ppg), Jack Duffer (9 ppg), Gavin Escobedo (6 ppg), Patrick Coen (6 ppg), Lazar Lazarevic (6 ppg), Meyer (5 ppg) and Jaeden Warrener (4 ppg). The Mustangs meet Timothy Christian in the tournament opener at 8:30 a.m.
Conant plays Highland Park at 9 a.m. The Cougars (5-3) are led by Bradley Biedke (14.5 ppg), Nate Hahn (11.8 ppg) and Rohan Patel (8.6 ppg).
Palatine (5-4) gained momentum at the Tosh last year, finishing fourth. Palatine, which has been led by Tony Balanganayi (13 ppg, 8 rpg) and Carter Monroe (11.7 rpg), is hoping that lightning will strike twice for them as they open with Downers Grove South at 11:30 a.m.
Maine East Holiday Tournament
Dec. 26-28, 30
Area teams: Leyden, Maine East, Hoffman Estates
Outlook: Hoffman Estates (7-2) has used tremendous balance to equal success this season. The Hawks, who come into the Maine East Tournament as one of the favorites, have been getting solid play from Daiquan Daniels (18 ppg), Torey Baskin (12 ppg), Joey Hernandez (8 ppg), Chris Mobley (8 ppg) and Nate Cleveland (7 ppg, 7 reb). Hoffman opens Round Lake at 1 p.m.
Prior to that game, Leyden (4-4), which is led by Nicholas Gattuso (12.9 ppg), Ernesto Sanchez (11 ppg) and Mohamed El-Hindi (9.6 ppg), will battle Niles West at 11:30 a.m. Host Maine East (2-7), which is led by Brandon Schreiber (20.1 ppg), freshman Jayden Dozie (12.5 ppg) and Jaiden Whitehead (9.3 ppg), will take on Sandburg at 4:30 p.m.
Pekin Insurance Holiday Classic at Pekin
Dec. 26-28
Area team: Hersey
Outlook: This is the 59th annual tournament and Hersey is making its 24th trek downstate. Coach Bob Widlowski will be taking his undefeated Huskies (8-0) to become the only local team in the tournament.
The Huskies are seeded fourth and open with Springfield at 7 p.m. With a pair of wins, Hersey, which has been paced all season by Jackson Hupp and Charlie Pomis averaging 14 points game, could have a date with tournament top-seed Mt. Carmel in the semifinals Friday evening.
Elgin Holiday Tournament
Dec. 23, 26-28
Area team: Schaumburg Christian
Outlook: Tanish Dundi (15 ppg) and Elliot Foy (11 ppg) lead Schaumburg Christian (7-4), who just had its 6-game winning streak snapped Tuesday. The Conquerors meet West Chicago in the first round at 10:30 a.m. Waukegan is the tournament favorite.