Burlington Central proving people wrong

Forget very good.

The boys basketball team from Burlington Central team wasn't supposed to be any good this season considering the quality players it lost.

After winning the Big Northern Conference's Eastern Division last year with a perfect 10-0 record and a 17-7 finish overall, the Rockets graduated 1,000-point scorer Brad Porto, a developing forward in Corey Rau (now at Elgin Community College averaging 9.9 ppg.) and solid role player Chris Parks.

Then came the unexpected.

On Aug. 8, incoming junior guard Cully Payne -- the honorary co-captain of the 2006-07 Daily Herald All-Area team, a player who led the area in scoring as a sophomore with 21.7 points per game and is verbally committed to DePaul -- transferred suddenly to Schaumburg High School, his parents' alma mater.

"I was really shocked," said senior guard Jake McNutt. "I don't think any of us saw it coming. We had no idea.

"But that day coach (Chris Payne) called me and the other seniors and said, 'Look, I don't know if you've heard or not, but Cully's transferring. But we're still going to have a good team. I'm sticking here and we're going to do what we normally do no matter who we have. We're going to run our stuff and go out and follow that goal of dominating the Big Northern.'"

With a mostly different cast of characters and a revamped offense that takes advantage of the team's remaining strengths, the Rockets (12-5, 4-1) were the surprise team of the season's first half and have put themselves in position to repeat as BN-E champs.

Though their 14-game winning streak against Big Northern opponents was finally snapped Tuesday night in a 45-40 loss at Richmond-Burton, a contest in which Central played shorthanded without injured forward Jason Wagner and his 12.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, Central stands tied with Richmond with identical divisional records of 4-1.

However, Richmond must still pay a visit to Rocket Hill on Feb. 2 and has another tough road game Feb. 8 at Hampshire, which has won 7 of its last 8 games. Central has already swept two games from Hampshire this season.

The fact many people wrote Burlington Central off due to the loss of Cully Payne, Porto, et al, has become the underlying incentive that keeps these Rockets fueled and firing.

"I think we've been using that as motivation," said senior guard Mike McCurdy. "We weren't supposed to even be at the top of our conference, let alone have a record this good.

"I think we're more of a team. We have more of a team attitude. We work together and no one's really selfish to get theirs."

Did the players take it as an insult that Cully Payne left to play against superior competition in the Mid-Suburban League?

"Yeah, I think so," said Chris Payne, Cully's second cousin. "These kids take pride in being part of this program and they take pride in their school. For whatever reason this place wasn't good enough for some people.

"But these kids take pride in this program, which experienced a fair amount of success well before I got here. It's a good place to play and the kids have worked hard their whole lives to be able to put the Central varsity uniform on. They take pride in that and they want to do well.

"With Cully leaving two weeks before school started the kids have really responded. They saw it as a challenge, which just speaks to the type of character they have."

Central's only returning starters were McCurdy, a two-year varsity performer who averaged 8.4 points per game last season, and Wagner, a hard-rebounding forward with an deft outside-shooting touch who averaged 5.4 points a game.

That duo forms the heart of this year's starting lineup along with McNutt, a little-used reserve a year ago who now averages 11.1 points per game and is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.

Rounding out the starting lineup are two sophomores: 6-foot-3 center Shane Larkin (5.1 ppg., 4.9 rpg.) and promising guard Matt McCurdy (6.2 ppg.).

The new lineup required a new plan of attack.

Coach Chris Payne, who employed a motion offense for nine seasons at Mt. Carroll and in his first four seasons at Central, scrapped that scheme this year because he didn't think it was the best fit for the current roster.

"To run motion you really have to have five guys that really understand how to play offense," Chris Payne said. "At the beginning of the year we had two sophomores starting, so we didn't really have that. Last year we had a very experienced team that knew how to play, so we thought running motion best suited them. We were successful with it.

"Starting this year the kids had a lot to learn, and I think if we'd tried to shove motion down their throats we would have struggled. We just kind of came up with something where our best players are going to command the ball most of the time and where other guys are going to be able to step up and make plays when they get the chance to."

The Rockets run more set plays these days, which they had begun doing last summer anyhow because Cully Payne missed half of Central's summer-league games while playing AAU ball with the Rising Stars 17-U squad.

The players have grown comfortable with the new offense. Now the Rockets spread the floor to give Mike McCurdy (and occasionally Matt McCurdy) room to make plays.

The proof is in the numbers: Burlington Central is averaging better than 64.5 points per game -- the third-highest average of any team in the area.

The scoring parade is led by McCurdy, the fourth of eight boys from a 13-sibling family. "My dad always jokes around and says the five best McCurdys could win against most basketball teams," said Mike, who is averaging an area-best 26.7 points per game this season as the centerpiece of the new scheme.

The Rockets have also gotten dependable production from Wagner, who is averaging 12.3 ppg. and 5.1 rpg.

However, nobody on Rocket Hill is patting himself on the back just yet, not with the workload that lies ahead.

On Saturday night the Rockets host Sycamore (9-5), a team that throttled them 77-64 in the title game of Sycamore's Thanksgiving tournament.

Since the two teams are grouped together in the upcoming Class 3A Sycamore regional, Saturday's rematch could determine who gets the No. 1 seed in a regional that also includes Kaneland, Oswego, Sandwich and Yorkville.

Central's difficult nonconfernce schedule to finish the season should also harden the Rockets for the postseason battles ahead. They host St. Charles East on Feb. 5, play at St. Charles North on Feb. 12 and host Sterling and Illinois recruit Joseph Bertrand (6-3, Jr., G) on Feb. 19.

Don't expect the Rockets' motivation to change between now and then.

"Coach tells us before every game to go out and prove people wrong," Mike McCurdy said. "That's what we're going to keep trying to do."