Fruendt slated to return to action Friday

Although he is not 100 percent healthy, Nick Fruendt is well on his way back from his battle with mononucleosis.

Fruendt, the Northwestern-bound senior on the Batavia boys basketball team, has missed 8 games this season due to the illness. The good news for Bulldog fans is the four-year varsity starter will make his return Friday at Yorkville in Western Sun Conference action.

"I feel great," Fruendt said. "I made it through the whole day (Monday) without feeling tired once."

For the first time since mid-December, Fruendt managed to participate in all of Monday's practice.

The Bulldogs went 6-2 without him and won Elgin's tournament. The two losses were against Suburban Catholic Conference rival Geneva (Fruendt's first game out) and Quincy. The Bulldogs are now 13-2, 6-1.

Fruendt was "bummed" he couldn't even watch the Geneva game from the bench (he was too sick, and also contagious) and listened to the Quincy game on the internet.

He started feeling better around Christmas and was able to watch the Bulldogs win all 4 games at Elgin from the bench.

Fruendt is "extremely proud" of the way his teammates played without him.

"I knew they had it in them," Fruendt said.

And so does Fruendt on his way to a comeback. The 6-foot-5 forward has gained back 12 of the 15 pounds he lost. His low point was 170 because it hurt when he tried to eat and he was dehydrated. He's now just a few pounds off his normal weight of 185.

West Aurora:ŒMost teams would be stoked to have just a pair of losses at this point in the season.

Not the 11-2 Blackhawks. They wished they were undefeated and had a better showing at Pontiac's tournament, where they picked up their losses.

"I wish we were 13-0," West Aurora guard Marcus Cocroft said. "We had a little trouble at Pontiac."

The Blackhawks opened tournament play with a loss to Danville and ended their stay with another loss to Curie. It was the first time in many, many years West Aurora was ousted from Pontiac after just two days.

At least West Aurora rang in 2008 and continued solid play in the DuPage Valley Conference, thanks to its huge 76-24 win against a young West Chicago team Saturday.

"We'd like to have a couple more wins, but I think we are playing pretty good," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said. "We finally shot the ball well (against West Chicago). I didn't think we shot the ball particularly well at Pontiac."

The win gave the Blackhawks a 5-0 showing in the conference.

When asked if West Aurora is the best team in the conference, West Chicago coach Kevin Gimre said the Blackhawks are right up at the top with Glenbard North.

"That is going to be a great matchup," Gimre said. "They both play the same style, so it will be interesting to see that."

The two DVC teams play Friday, Feb.1 in Carol Stream.

Aurora Central Catholic: Playing your biggest rival twice in one week is fun, exciting and good for everyone -- fans, players and coaches.

ACC and Marmion had to do just that, as the rivals faced off in the final game of Waubonsie Valley's tournament and exactly a week later in Suburban Catholic Conference play at Marmion.

The Chargers were the better team both times. ACC's 47-44 victory at Waubonsie Valley over Marmion allowed the Chargers to take third place.

The following Friday, ACC beat Marmion again, 46-37.

"We knew they were going to be tough," ACC senior guard Mark Adams said of Marmion the second time around. "We were playing a conference game in their gym. It's hard to play on their court, but we got it done."

"(Playing Marmion at Waubonsie Valley) got us more prepared for this game so that we wouldn't take them lightly," junior Mike Adams added.

The next day, the Chargers maintained their perfect 6-0 showing in the conference with the overtime thrilling win against Driscoll. They are now 15-1 and have cracked the Daily Herald's Top 20 for the first time at No. 20.