Upstate Eight title chase is on
Though Waubonsie Valley remains unbeaten with four league games to play, the Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball title is still up for grabs.
Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton didn't think that was the case two weeks ago.
"It's theirs. It's over," Sutton said of the UEC title chase on Jan. 16, days after the Warriors edged his Wildcats 61-59. "They are head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. The rest of us are playing for second place."
Not so fast.
The remaining schedule for Waubonsie Valley (18-4, 6-0) has grown teeth, thanks mainly to the late-season emergence of three of its remaining opponents: St Charles North (13-9, 6-2), Elgin (12-8, 4-2) and St. Charles East (10-10, 4-3).
The title push begins Saturday night when Waubonsie hosts St. Charles North. The North Stars have won 11 of their last 13 to reverse a 2-7 start to the season.
The Warriors then host improving East Aurora (13-8, 3-4) a week from Saturday before they close the UEC season on the road against two of the hottest teams in the Fox Valley -- Elgin and St. Charles East.
Waubonsie Valley visits Elgin's Chesbrough Field House on Friday, Feb. 15 and finishes the season in St. Charles against the Saints on Friday, Feb. 22.
Elgin (12-8, 4-2) has won 7 of its last 8 outings while St. Charles East (10-10, 3-4) has scored an average of 80 points over its last five games to climb back to .500.
"The bottom line is that the kids are playing like we taught them -- the extra pass, running our break," Saints coach Brian Clodi said Wednesday after his team beat Libertyville 87-75.
Elgin has a chance to play more than just the spoiler role with games remaining against three of the league's top contenders.
The Maroons play at Neuqua Valley Saturday and host Bartlett (15-6, 5-2) a week before they welcome Waubonsie Valley.
"We'll play a pivotal role in the Upstate Eight Conference coming down the stretch, whether or not we're contending for a title," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "We have some of the top teams coming to our place, so we'll be a factor in this race somehow."
Shuffling the deck:ŒNothing motivates a player more than competition for playing time, which is one reason Streamwood coach Tim Jones elevated three freshmen to his varsity roster in early January.
Freshman guards Jerrold Ofiana (5-toot-9) and Tim Cohen (5-9) were brought up to push junior guards Brian Brauer and Ryan Kiesel, who both responded to the challenge and began playing better thereafter, according to Jones.
Cohen and Ofiana were on the roster for three weeks before they were sent back to the freshman squad to log regular playing time.
However, the third freshman call-up, Josh Harris (6-5, 192 pounds), looks like he's on the varsity to stay.
Harris was brought up to challenge some of the varsity post players and played key minutes in Tuesday's 64-50 loss to York, Streamwood's 13th consecutive defeat.
"I think Josh can play," said Jones. "He can be a good post player. He is a big body. He will bang and he will rebound. At this point in time he may not play the ball off those angles real well just yet, but I think he's going to be a nice ballplayer.
"I'm kind of disappointed in my seniors. Some of them have been here for two years and some for three years, and they have to show a little bit more leadership out here. They have to play a little bit better and show us the way."
Familiar foes:ŒCrystal Lake South (10-9, 0-3) and Cary-Grove (11-9, 2-1) play tonight in a Valley Division game at Gator Alley.
The game is the second of what could turn out to be four meetings between these rivals this season.
The Gators defeated Cary-Grove 62-56 in the third-place game of the holiday tournament at Jacobs on Dec. 29. The teams will meet again in conference play on Feb. 19 in Cary.
And depending on how the seeds play out at next week's Crystal Lake South seeding meeting, the District 155 schools could very well find themselves squaring off a fourth time in a Class 4A regional.
Cary-Grove has rebounded from a conference-opening loss at Jacobs to beat Dundee-Crown 57-42 and McHenry 45-31.
In their December meeting the teams were tied at 38 through three quarters of play before CL South pulled away with 7 straight points to begin the final period.
Guard Mark Tometich scored 28 points for Cary-Grove in that game, including eight 3-pointers, while twin brother Paul Tometich contributed 14.
"They've been playing better of late," Gators coach Dan DeBruycker said of the Trojans. "They've got other guys stepping up and scoring, so it's not just (Mark and Paul) and everyone else not shooting well.
"We're going to have to focus on all the guys, not just the two Tometiches, which makes it difficult."
The Gators will try to snap a 4-game losing skid tonight. They opened Valley Division play with consecutive losses to Woodstock (66-54), Jacobs (60-30) and Dundee-Crown (53-46) and dropped a nonconference game to Bartlett last Saturday at home.
Realistic about their chances of competing for the Division title against undefeated power Jacobs (17-2, 3-0), DeBruycker has shifted his team's focus to postseason preparation.
"It's a very, very, very faraway dream for us to win conference already, so we're talking about the regional, which we host this year," DeBruycker said. "We have goals as a team we need to get better to reach so, hopefully, the kids keep working and we'll get there."