Harper men's basketball hasn't hit peak yet at 13-3

Some would see a 13-3 record and figure things couldn't get much better.

Harper College men's basketball coach Tony Amarino sees his team every day and knows its best days could still be ahead.

"We're playing well enough to win," Amarino said. "The best part of it is I think we can play a lot better.

"We haven't come anywhere near peaking, which is good."

Harper, which was ranked fifth in the latest NJCAA Division III national poll, had an 8-game winning streak snapped Saturday, 81-65 by a 1-loss South Suburban team.

Bobby Rhodes (Schaumburg) and Fred Taylor (Conant) led Harper with 23 and 21 points respectively.

"It was a good test for us and they were just better than us," Amarino said. "We didn't play as well as we know we could have.

"But that's taking nothing away from them (South Suburban). They're probably the best team we've played all year."

Harper goes to Oakton at 1 p.m. Saturday and then opens N4C play at 7 p.m. Tuesday with a visit by Triton, which is 12-4 and ranked 13th in Division II.

"We feel pretty good and think we have a good shot at it," Amarino said. "There are some tough teams in the conference. With COD (College of DuPage) and Joliet, the conference is pretty solid."

Which has Amarino looking for more consistency going into the second half.

"We have little periods where we're not as good as we should be and we allow people runs," Amarino said. "We have to get a little more of that killer instinct.

"It's almost like we take timeouts during the game," he added before laughing, "I'll call the timeouts."

Battling adversity: Injuries and other issues are taking a toll on the Harper women's basketball team that is 3-11 with a 6-game losing streak.

"We're beat up," said Harper coach Rusty Becker.

Physically with guards Emily Vierneisel (ankle) and Larisa Coldebella (broken nose) missing an 84-37 loss to Moraine Valley last Thursday.

Vierniesel is still out, but Coldebella will return for Saturday's game at Highland. Harper starts N4C play at 5 p.m. Tuesday when Triton visits.

"Which is big for us," Becker said of Coldebella's return. "She is somebody who can handle the ball and score. Without Emily, there goes another outside shooter."

Becker said he's also not sure if two of his post players will be eligible the second half so sophomore Jenny Murray will be relied on even more inside.

"Now we're back to being a small team," Becker said. "We'll try some junk defenses for awhile and see if we can control the scoring."

The Hawks will add two players in guard Cyndi Smith (Wheeling) and guard-forward Cerissa Sanders (Hoffman Estates), who wasn't eligible the first half because she registered late for school.

And freshman guard Katy Spencer (Palatine) continues to impress Becker and coaches at four-year schools even if her statistics aren't eye-popping.

"She's playing hard and doing some really nice things right now," Becker said. "We'll see where we are and what we're doing, but the kids we do have will work their butts off.

"Our goal is to try to get to .500 by the end of the year."

Eight is enough: Harper wrestlers lived up to their No. 1 national ranking in the NJCAA Division III polls in their own invitational last weekend.

The Hawks won eight of nine weight classes and 27 of 28 matches in the four-team event.

Josh Lahman, a returning national qualifier from last year's Division III runnerup, won the title at 141 pounds. Hoffman Estates grad Danny Miller took the crown at 197.

Andy St. Germain (125), Justin Lahman (133), Bryan Jansen (157), Mike Dace (174), Shea Geradot (184) and Alex Delonis (heavyweight) also reached the winner's circle.

This weekend, Harper will compete in the prestigious National Duals tournament at the University of Northern Iowa. Harper will be among eight community colleges competing in the tourney.