Boys basketball notes: Fremd, Hoffman Estates deliver a few of opening week’s many highlights
There were lots of Thanksgiving desserts for Cook teams. Seven won Thanksgiving tournament titles including Fremd, Hoffman Estates, Maine East, Prospect and Schaumburg.
In addition, Hersey and Palatine shared the Ed Molitor championship at Palatine when the title game was canceled due to weather. Those teams will get an opportunity to settle that title Friday when they meet at Hersey.
Along with Hersey and Palatine who are both unbeaten, Fremd and Maine East have yet to lose a game.
Barrington: The Broncos (4-2, 0-1) picked up a nice win over Schaumburg Tuesday night. Barrington has been led by Oliver Gray, who is averaging 23 points. DJ Young is coming off a career-high 21 points Tuesday and the Broncos have also received solid play from Evan Shechtman, Tommy Hills and Darsh Poovanna. Barrington was 2-1 at Thanksgiving and head back to Jacobs for the Hinkle tournament over the holiday break.
Buffalo Grove: The Bison (3-4, 1-0) are off to a good start thanks to the play of Alex Sirbu, who is averaging a double-double with 21.3 points and 14.7 rebounds. Edwin Karnauchovas has also been solid with his 15.2 points average while Jackson Oldenburg is averaging 7.7 points. Buffalo Grove finished second at Lakes at Thanksgiving and will be at the Hardwood Classic in Wheeling over the Christmas holiday.
Conant: With relatively inexperienced team the Cougars (3-4, 0-1) have been playing well. They finished second at the Glenbrook North tournament, losing in the title game to the hosts. Jakub Glowacki, who is shooting 25% from outside the arc, leads Conant in scoring, averaging 10 points per game while Bryce Harris is averaging 8.3 points. Joey Biedke, who is a sophomore, has adjusted well to varsity play and leads the team in charges taken with 9. Conant will play at the Jack Tosh tournament at York over the holiday break.
Elk Grove: The Grenadiers (0-5, 0-1) are hoping to improve on their three-point shooting which can help turn the tide. The Grens are shooting just 26% from outside the arc. Cooper Casterton leads Elk Grove in scoring with 14.3 points while Khaleel Khan is averaging 13 points and Matt Novak 10.3 points. Novak has also been a beast around the rim, with 40 rebounds in his first four games. Elk Grove lost two games at Crystal Lake Central at Thanksgiving and is hoping to turn things around over the holidays at Maine East.
Fremd: The Vikings (6-0, 1-0) are picking up where they left off last season. The defending MSL West champions won the Fenton Thanksgiving tournament with an impressive victory over Evanston. They head to the Hardwood Classic in Wheeling where they are defending champions. Jordan Williams, who recently signed to play at Illinois State next season, leads the team with a 20.4 scoring average. Rafael Pinto is averaging 18.8 points, Tommy Moffett 11.4 points and Chase Nelson 9.4 points.
Hersey: The Huskies (6-0, 1-0) are making the most of change and are off to a terrific start. They won a trio of games at Palatine to earn their way to the title game for the Thanksgiving tournament. They are not traveling to Pekin for the first time in 25 years at Christmas and will be playing at Elgin. They also won their first MSL West game last week. Charlie Pomis, who had 30 points on Tuesday in the win over Hoffman Estates, is averaging 19.6 points. Logan Luxem is averaging 12.2 points and Jack Nawrot is making a smooth transition from throwing touchdown passes to averaging 10.4 points.
Hoffman Estates: The Hawks (5-1, 1-0) are coming off their first loss on Tuesday to Fremd. But that doesn’t dampen the excitement in Hoffman. The Hawks won their own tournament at Thanksgiving and are headed again to Maine East for the holidays where they are defending tournament champions. Torey Baskin may be the best player that no one outside of the Northwest suburbs knows about. The senior is averaging 26.5 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Cameron James is averaging 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Leyden: Leyden (4-3,1-0) has recovered from its turkey coma after losing all three of its games at Thanksgiving. The Eagles are on a 4-game winning streak including their conference opener with Hinsdale South. Ernesto Sanchez, Julian Martinez, Mohammed El-Hindi and Robert Darling have led Leyden’s resurgence. The Eagles will play at the Maine East holiday tournament.
Maine East: The Blue Demons (7-0, 1-0) are one of the great surprises of the season in the entire state. They began to show their talents when they won the Batavia Thanksgiving tournament. They continued with their streak and knocked off previously unbeaten Glenbrook North on Tuesday. Maine East, which hosts its own holiday tournament, is led by senior Brandon Schreiber, who is averaging 20.3 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Sophomores Jayden Dozie and Albert Cooper are averaging 15.2 and 9.7 points, respectively, while junior Kaiden Wade is averaging 9.1 points.
Maine West: The Blue Demons (2-3, 0-1) have been leaning heavily on Davion Tate, who is averaging 20 points per game. They have also been getting solid play on the boards from Baker Blevins, who is averaging 6 rebounds. Meanwhile, sophomores DeAngelo Rodriguez Jr. and Dara Oluyinka have been giving Maine West energy on defense. The Warriors split their two games at Addison Trail over Thanksgiving and are playing at the Hardwood Classic over the holidays.
Maine South: The Hawks (3-3, 0-1) have been preparing hard for the grind in the CSL South. They went 2-1 at the Downers Grove North tournament and will be playing at Hinsdale Central over the Christmas break. Panayiotis Sotos (16 points, 5 rebounds) has been the main go-to guy while Nick Hachigian is averaging 7.2 points. The Hawks are looking to guards Ian Smucker, Dylan Tomlinson and Sean Ryan for 3-point shooting.
Palatine: The Pirates (6-0, 1-0) are off to a great start and have production coming from different players in nearly every game. Tony Balanganayi (13.1 points), Abram Williams (11 points), Robbie Wilcox (8.8 points), Brady May (8.4 points) and Darrin Dick (7.8 points) have been taking turns leading the team in scoring. Wilcox has 14 three-pointers and is shooting 47% from outside the arc. Williams has recently committed to Hamilton College in New York. Palatine will play in the Jack Tosh tournament over the holidays at York.
Prospect: After winning all three games and the tournament title at St. Viator’s Thanksgiving tournament, Prospect (4-2, 0-1) took a small step backward. The Knights dropped their next two games before beating Wheeling Tuesday. The Knights have had six different players score in double figures this season and are led by Quinn Zinzer’s 13.4 points, Danny Simon, who is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points and 10.4 rebounds, along with Colin Tucker’s 8.8 points. The Knights will play at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic during the holiday break.
Rolling Meadows: The Mustangs’ first MSL West game resulted in a loss to Palatine. But Meadows (4-2, 0-1), which lost its top eight players from last season’s MSL championship team, is still finding ways to win. The Mustangs went 2-1 at Fenton over Thanksgiving and are headed to the Jack Tosh tourney at York over the holidays. Meadows has been led by Tyler Stankiewicz, Drew Krestel and Marty Lesner, who are all averaging 8 points per game. Lesner has had a double-double in his last two games.
Schaumburg: The Saxons (4-2, 1-0) have been playing some great ball to begin the season. Schaumburg won the St. Charles East Thanksgiving tournament on a buzzer-beater by Ray Black. Schaumburg, which will play at the highly competitive Hinsdale Central Holiday tournament, is led by Tony Horton, who is averaging 17.6 points, Cam Anderson at 11.2 points, Aaron Shogren who is at 9.7 points and Jason Jancik’s 6.3 points per game.
St. Viator: The Lions (3-2, 0-1) turned things around Saturday after a bad loss last Friday to Carmel. Viator will have to gear up this weekend with games against Richards on Friday and Christ the King on Saturday. Viator was second at its own Thanksgiving tournament and will play at Wheeling over Christmas. Dawson Charles, Jacob Only and Jack Leonard have been leading the Lions in scoring. They also hope to have Landon Ray back soon after an injury to the 6-foot-5 sophomore guard.
Wheeling: The Wildcats (1-6, 0-1) are off to a slow start despite playing well at times. Wheeling was winless over Thanksgiving at the “Battle of the Ridge” at Northridge Prep, and the Wildcats will host the Hardwood Classic which begins on Dec. 22. Zach Neukirch (11 points per game) and Peter Kulig (8 points per game) lead the way while newcomer Rahmeer Robinson-Williams is averaging 6 points, 7 rebounds and one charge per game.