Historic day for Batavia tennis; Bettis 13th at state; Marmion wins SCC title

Wheaton Warrenville South's girls tennis team found out in dramatic fashion that every match counts, especially in a closely contested tournament like Saturday's Naperville North sectional.

The Tigers needed a victory in a Friday play-in match to put them in contention and a win in a third-place doubles match to secure the sectional championship.

In outscoring second-place Benet 21-20, the Tigers finished ahead of both DuPage Valley Conference champion Naperville North and runner-up Wheaton North, both of whom bested them in last week's conference tournament.

Batavia's Alexa Schofield, a junior, and Kim Sawyer, a sophomore, who were seeded fourth in the doubles bracket, pulled an upset by knocking off No. 1 seed Sarah Eid and Ali Peters in the semifinals and the second-seeded Meg Bell and Sarah Delk of Wheaton North in the finals.

"It's historic," said Batavia coach Brad Nelson. "We've had doubles teams go to state before, but never one to win sectionals.

"We put Alexa and Kim together during the season as an experiment. If someone told you, 'Don't worry they're going to win sectionals,' you wouldn't have believed it. But that's exactly what they did. But these girls have nerves of steel."

Nelson said that when he went out to talk to them when they were down 5-2 in the third set, he could see it in their eyes they had the confidence to win.

"There was never any panic in them," Nelson said. "They don't get rattled, which is unusual for younger teams. And they have the ability to mix up their games."

"I know I haven't lost until the last point," Sawyer said. "I just don't get upset because it will make me play worse. We work well together. We have good communication and we can get to anything."

"We both kept really calm," Schofield said. "I know the feeling of coming back from being down 5-0. You just keep going and never give up.

"Our goal this year was to go to state and we made it," Schofield added. "There are no words to describe this feeling. We plan to go to state, win a few matches and have a good time."

Girls golf

State tournament:ŒIt was an end of an era for the St. Charles North girls golf team Saturday at Hickory Ridge in Carbondale.

Brooke Bettis, the last member of two North Stars' downstate teams over a three-year period, was looking to make some noise in her final high school tournament.

After opening with a 75 on Friday, Bettis succumbed to a combination of putting woes and less-than-desirable play off the tee in her quest for a top individual state finish.

The North Stars' senior finished with a 77 for a two-day total of 152, which placed her in a four-way tie for 13th in the Class AA tournament.

"My ball-striking wasn't as good as (Friday), and I putted even worse," said Bettis. "Between the two days, I had six 3-putts. That's 6 strokes right there I could have saved. My lag putting was very poor."

Lake Forest senior Hailey Koschman annihilated the state record, following up a 6-under-par 66 on Friday with another half-dozen birdies to set the new standard at 9-under 135 in easing to the title.

Bettis' hopes for her own display of red numbers turned out to be the difference.

"I think the big thing was that (Friday) I didn't have a birdie until 16 and today I didn't have one until 17," said Bettis. "I didn't have enough birdies to be competitive. You're going to have bogeys."

"I'm real proud of what (Bettis) has accomplished in her four years at North," said St. Charles North coach Chris Patrick. "I think she got frustrated a little bit that she couldn't roll in any putts."

Unlike a season ago, Bettis' inclusion in the state finals was not an area solo act.

Kaneland freshman Hayley Guyton had an impressive state run after spending the regular-season on the Knights' boys team.

Guyton had matching 86s over the weekend for the Knights, two shots better than the 174 two-day total of Geneva junior Kim Connor.

"(Guyton) was a little upset with herself," said Kaneland coach Mark Meyer. "She didn't play on she wanted to play on the big stage for her first time. She wasn't as consistent as she was in the regional and sectional."

Guyton had 14 pars and a birdie on the weekend, and Connor had three solid nine-hole scores, only to falter over her last nine.

Opening with nine-hole rounds of 40-42-42, Connor ballooned on her last nine for a 174 total.

"I'm glad I made it to state, but I wish I could have done better," said Connor, only the second Geneva female to make the state cut. "I was pretty happy with my round on Friday, (but) I wasn't happy at all about today."

In an utmost show of sportsmanship and integrity, St. Charles East sophomore Jenny Niemiec disqualified herself on Friday after signing an incorrect scorecard.

"No one else in the group saw it," said Niemiec. "I even asked the observer, and he didn't see it."

-- Kevin McGavin

Boys golf

BLOOMINGTON -- Danny Stringfellow was the low man for St. Viator at the Class 3A boys state championship, and his score was not even needed by the Lions on the second day.

The Roselle resident secured top-10 individual status for the second straight year in boys golf, but it was his teammates who matched their 300 from opening-round play to win the first non-Class A state title in school history Saturday in Bloomington.

Chris Niemiec and Kurtis Luedtke were attempting to make inroads on the second-day of play as the lone local individuals in the field.

Niemiec, the St. Charles East senior, was in solid position after a first-round 75, only to see his last round dissolve.

"It was a tough way to finish," said St. Charles East coach John Stock. "Whether he was trying too hard to shoot a number, I don't know. It just didn't happen."

Niemiec finished at 164, while Luedtke, the West Aurora junior, started off with a 39, only to struggle down the stretch as well with a season-ending 84.

-- Kevin McGavin

Volleyball

Autumnfest:ŒAutumnfest featured a preview of Tuesday's showdown between St. Charles East and Waubonsie Valley for a share of first place in the Upstate Eight Conference.

Waubonsie Valley (23-9) tipped the Saints 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 Saturday in the 13th-place match of Glenbard East's 24-team girls volleyball tournament in Lombard.

"We talked about being consistent," Saints coach Jennie Kull said. "We're young, but we need to continue to stay focused and finish. I think we let up in that second game. We were way up against Waubonsie and then they fought back. Credit to them. They did a nice job.

"We just have to get ready for them. They're a good team."

Kull didn't think the meeting would play into Tuesday's meaningful match.

"It doesn't matter who's on the other side. We have to make sure we're playing the best we can. Kids play differently everyday and from game to game. We just need to make sure we play better than we did today. We need to have better ball control than we did today."

St. Charles East (23-11) started Saturday with a 25-20, 12-25, 25-22 loss to Providence in the Silver Division before rebounding to beat Mt. Pulaski 25-9, 25-15.

Naperville Central (29-4) won. The Redhawks swept Benet 25-13, 25-23 in the quarterfinals before defeating DuPage Valley Conference rival Wheaton Warrenville South 28-26, 23-25, 25-18 in the semifinals powered by Emily McGee's 15 kills and Rebecca Heath's 11.

-- Dave Miller

LWC tournament:ŒBurlington Central (31-3) followed up its tournament win last weekend in Bettendorf, Iowa by winning the Lincoln-Way Central Volleyball Tournament on Saturday to extend its winning streak to 20 straight.

The Rockets swept Thornwood, Marian Catholic, Joliet and Champaign Centennial and outlasted the host team 25-17, 21-25, 25-17 to win the title.

Sophomore Stephanie Holthus finished with 49 kills, 35 digs and 8 blocks, junior setter Molly Turk recorded 129 assists, 42 digs and 11 aces, senior Teresa Krog had 32 kills, 9 blocks and 10 aces and Brooke Porto and Brittany Priest combined to make 68 digs and went 101 of 105 on serve receive.

Minooka tournament:: St. Charles North finished second overall, going 3-1-1 in five matches. Carla Tietz finished with 25 digs and 21 kills while Elin Smith added 28 assists, 11 kills, 12, digs and served 11 aces.

Rosary tournament:: The Royals (26-5) defeated Trinity, IMSA and Rosary JV to sweep their own meet. Lindsey Weber finished the day with 21 kills and 15 digs. Kylie Schalz added 12 kills and 11 blocks.

Girls swimming

New Trier Relays:ŒOften, the point of competing in a meet as tough as the New Trier Relays is as varied as the numbers of teams in the pool.

Some are beginning to pile up laps, others are trying to see how they stack up against some of the top teams in the state -- while still others are working on their lineups with conference and sectional meets coming up soon.

Barrington, which enjoyed a sensational meet at New Trier last year before finishing second at state, finished fourth Saturday with 124 points.

The host Trevians won the meet with 163 points followed by Hinsdale Central (139) and Evanston (133).

St. Charles East was missing Kate Lindauw, a Division I prospect in the fly, the 100 free and the 200 free. The Saints ended up 10th with 52.50 points.

"We didn't do very good," said St. Charles coach Joe Cabel. "We didn't swim very well. They complained they're tired. They were swimming a lot this morning.

"Hayley Krzeczowski swam a lot of relays today and got a lot of work in, too. We just didn't swim very well."

-- Kathy Rudolph

Boys cross country

SCC meet: Marmion won the regular season title and added the conference championship on Saturday. Josh Stein finished first overall and set a new meet record of 15:30, 22 seconds ahead of Montini's Andrew Larson. Marmion demonstrated its depth, placing six runners in the top nine, including T.J. Heffernan's third-place finish.

Garret McKnight finished fourth for St. Francis at 16:26 and was immediately followed by teammate Phil Diamond. Max Gilbert paced Aurora Central Catholic with a 10th-place showing at 17:24.

Girls cross country

SCC girls:ŒOn the strength of four runners placing in the top 10, St. Francis claimed the team title. Alyssa Robinson finished fifth with a time of 19:56 and her teammates Courtney Trunk, Kelly McSloan and Maria Diamond finished fifth, sixth and seventh.

Natilie D'Agostino of Immaculate Conception finished first overall at 19:27 followed by St. Edward's Ashley Lucas at 19:44. Aurora Central Catholic's Valerie Cintron came in third at 19:47 and Haley Eutry led Rosary with an 11th-place finish at 20:58.

Football

St. Francis 36, Immaculate Conception 26:ŒMark Kachmer had never scored 5 touchdowns in a game -- till Saturday.

St. Francis' junior running back carried the ball 23 times for 175 yards with touchdown runs of 43, 35, 5, 5 and 11 yards to lead the Spartans to a 36-26 victory over Immaculate Conception in Wheaton.

Kachmer's speed on pitches, off-tackle runs and cutbacks, plus turnovers that bit Suburban Catholic Conference foe IC, sent St. Francis past the Knights' 1-2 punch of Jonathon Ellis and Nick DiBrito, who ran for 181 and 120 yards, respectively.

"It's a good feeling," said Kachmer, held to 24 yards in last week's overtime loss to St. Edward. "I'm just glad that our whole team got this win. We bounced back really well from last week."

In a key sequence separated by halftime, Kachmer took a pitch left for a 5-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Jeff Reckards' conversion run meant a 22-19 halftime lead for St. Francis (3-5, 2-4).

IC (2-6, 1-5) fumbled on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter. St. Francis' Ryan O'Donnell recovered at the IC 28 and shortly after Kachmer added another 5-yard run for a 29-19 lead.

"That was a big momentum change there," said O'Donnell, crediting Kachmer with causing the fumble. "I think once we got that we were just ready to pound it."

Not so fast, Ryan.

Alan Lowrey's fumble recovery and Ellis' 35-yard dive set up Ellis' 1-yard plunge over left guard Josh Fenton to pull the Knights within 29-26 at 2:29 of the third quarter.

The first play of the fourth quarter, however, Dave Palash's interception stole IC's thunder. Kachmer later sealed the win with his 11-yard touchdown run.

Falling consecutively to Marmion and St. Edward by 4 total points wasn't easy on St. Francis. Coach Greg Purnell relished his team's resiliency.

"Coming off those two gut-wrenching losses, it's really tough on our kids," he said. "Boy, they hung together. We had a good week of practice and beat a really gutsy football team. I'm really pleased."

-- David Oberhelman

Lake Forest Academy 51, Wheaton Academy 29:ŒThere's something running in common these days with Wheaton Academy's Josh Kruel and the Chicago Bears' Devin Hester.

It appears both know how to return kickoffs for touchdowns.

In fact Kruel brought back two of them for 91 yards, along with a touchdown reception, and he intercepted two passes on defense.

However, Wheaton Academy lost to host Lake Forest Academy 51-29 in a nonconference game.

Kruel had put the Warriors (2-6) ahead 7-6 with 3:36 remaining in the opening quarter with his first 91-yard return.

But the Caxys (3-4) took things over in the second quarter, scoring a pair of TDs for a 22-7 halftime advantage.

-- Rusty Silber

Mooseheart 30, Wayland Academy 12:ŒEntering the final quarter of it's latest "most important" game, Mooseheart's football team carried a mere 14-12 lead on Wayland Academy.

What transpired in the next 12 minutes not only keyed an eventual 30-12 Mooseheart victory, earned the Ramblers their fifth win of the season and kept the team's playoff drive alive.

The blistering final quarter also gave a final score that was much wider than the difference between the teams' play on the field.

"It really was a tough-fought game," Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler said. "It was really strategic. We tried to figure out field position."

The 30 points mark the most Mooseheart has scored this season and Wayland's point total mean five of the Ramblers eight opponents have scored 14 points or less this season.

The fourth quarter turned numerous times, but Gabe Kendor was at the heart of much of the action. The senior gained 132 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns in the game. He also intercepted a passes and returned one it for a touchdown and had a kickoff return for a touchdown.

"Coming into this week, they were talking about No. 22 being the player," Kendor said. "So they had their attention on him. That made it easier for me to get in and do what I had to do."

"No. 22" is Floyd Mays, and he gained 50 yards on nine carries coming off a dominating Homecoming performance. That win over North Shore Country Day started a two-game victory run that has seen the Ramblers climb to 5-3. Six wins guarantees a playoff berth in IHSA football, and Mooseheart takes aim at postseason qualification when it hosts Kirkland Hiawatha on Friday.

"I've been with Chris Morones, Floyd (Mays) and Pedro (Gonzalez) for a long time now," Kendor said. "We played sixth grade football together and this is our last chance to do something special."

The fourth quarter surge began when Mooseheart pinned the Big Red at its own 9-yard line following a strong Morones punt.

With 3:02 left, Wayland Academy quarterback Scott Fitzgerald slipped and fell under pressure in his own end zone. The safety put Mooseheart ahead 16-12.

Kendor received the resulting free kick and ran 38 yards for a touchdown that suddenly left Mooseheart leading 23-12.

Fitzgerald was intercepted by Kendor on Wayland's next possession - and Kendor rambled 54 yards for the final touchdown of the game.

"I preached it at halftime and I brought it up after the game - when you get opportunities, you've got to take advantage of them.

Defensively, Mooseheart shut out the Big Red (3-4) in the second half and forced three turnovers in the process.

"We didn't make too many adjustments at halftime," Urwiler said. "Andy Greenaway made a great catch for us when we needed it. Donald Niersbach made a nice play with an interception. Those are game-changers."

"Twenty-two of the 30 tackles we made in the first half were solo tackles, and that told me we weren't getting to the ball. With the offense they were running, we had to have more than one guy making the tackle."

-- Darryl Mellema

College football

Wheaton 28, Augustana 24:ŒWheaton College escaped with a victory in Wheaton.

Thunder quarterback Sean Norris was sacked 5 times and Wheaton was outgained on the ground 231-83, but it managed to pull out the CCIW victory.

Alex Pokorny (Geneva) scored the winning touchdown, pulling in a 44-yard pass from Norris with 5:19 to play. Wheaton had led 21-7 just before halftime before giving up 17 straight points.

Benedictine 20, Aurora 17, OT:ŒBrian Goff's 38-yard field goal in overtime lifted the Eagles (3-4, 2-2) past Aurora University (2-4, 2-1) in Lisle, ending the Eagles' 13-game losing streak against Aurora.

The game was tied 10-10 after four quarters, with the Eagles having scored on a 26-yard Goff field goal and Ryan Schwartz's 30-yard third-quarter run.

Aurora scored on Ryne Reder's 51-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and got a 31-yard field goal

Schwartz finished with 136 yards rushing on 32 carries.