Boys basketball notes: MSL West, East races both heating up

As the high school’s season winds down into its final month, it’s time to salute players who have overtaken the 1,000-point mark in their career. It is also an opportunity to catch up with teams as state seeding begins Feb. 9 and will be released Feb. 12.

Barrington: Oliver Gray, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark a year ago, continues to be difficult for opponents to guard. The senior is averaging 20 points for the Broncos (6-11, 0-6).

Buffalo Grove: Alex Sirbu is just 20 points shy of the 1,000-point mark as the junior enters Friday night’s game with his team at home against Elk Grove. Sirbu is averaging 19.4 points for Buffalo Grove (9-12, 3-3). The Bison also have also received strong play from Edwin Karnauchovas, who is averaging 14 points. Jackson Oldenburg and Ethan Fajardo are having big senior seasons for the Bison with Oldenburg averaging 7.6 points and Fajardo 6.7 points.

Conant: The Cougars (6-15, 2-4) are looking to bounce back in the final month of the regular season. Conant, which has lost 7 of its last 8 games, has received strong defensive play from sophomore Joey Biedke, who has 25 of the team’s 38 charges. Jakub Glowacki leads the team with 9.2 points per game while Bryce Harris is averaging 7.8 points.

Elk Grove: The Grenadiers (7-13, 1-5) have already won as many games this season as they did in the previous two seasons combined. Cooper Casterton leads the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game and is on pace to break the school record for assists in a season. Khaleel Khan is averaging 11.1 points while Matt Novak could break the season record for rebounds.

Fremd: Chase Nelson has emerged as another threat for the Vikings. Nelson, who is a top-notch baseball player, is averaging 7 points and 3.5 assists. Jordan Williams, who cracked the 1,000-point mark last season, leads Fremd with 19 points and 7 rebounds a game. Rafael Pinto is averaging 15.5 points while Tommy Moffett has 12.2 points, 7 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Hersey: The Huskies (15-3, 5-1) have adjusted to life in the MSL West quite nicely and are tied with Fremd and Palatine for the conference lead. Charlie Pomis continues to be on a tear, averaging 19.2 points. Part of the Huskies’ success can be attributed to the seamless transition that Jake Nawrot has made from football to basketball. Nawrot, who is a 6-foot-5 junior quarterback, currently has 10 D-1 offers for football.

Hoffman Estates: The Hawks (17-3, 6-0) lead the MSL East and have a Jan. 30 showdown at home against Schaumburg, who trails Hoffman by a game. Torey Baskin continues to lead the way for the Hawks with his 24-point scoring average. Cam James is averaging 11 points, Chris Mobley 8 points and Ramon Rosario 7 points. Sophomore Bryce Smith, who is 6-foot-5, has opened eyes with his defense (over 2 blocks per game) and rebounding (6.5 per game).

Leyden: The Eagles (14-6, 5-1) continue to impress. Leyden has been led by sophomores Ernesto Snachez and Mohamed El-Hindi, along with sophomores Robert Darling and Kevin Sanchez and senior Julian Martinez. The Eagles find themselves one game behind Downers Grove South in the West Suburban Gold race.

Maine East: Brandon Schreiber, who is a senior and is averaging 16.8 points per game, topped the 1,000-point mark last week against Notre Dame. Schreiber, along with sophomores Jayden Dozie, who is averaging 14.7 points, and Albert Cooper who is at 9.3 points lead Maine East (14-6, 3-3). The Blue Demons have also been receiving solid play from juniors Kaiden Wade and Josiah Oaxaca.

Maine West: The Warriors (7-11, 1-5) picked up a key nonconference win over Amundsen at the Oakton MLK event. Davian Tate, who has been solid all season, led with 16 points while Shrey Patel came up with a 14-point effort.

Maine South: The Hawks stunned New Trier 55-53 in overtime last Friday for Maine South’s first win over the Trevians in over 10 seasons. Panayiotis Sotos, who cracked the 1,000-point mark over the holidays, came up with 18 points against New Trier. He followed up with 30 points on Monday against Huntley as Maine South (11-10, 1-5) has won four in a row.

Palatine: The Pirates (18-3, 5-1) got some huge help last week with the return of Will Santiago, who was injured in his last football game. Meanwhile, Darrin Dick has done an outstanding job of running the Palatine offense. That offense is led by Tony Balanganayi, who broke the 1,000-point barrier at the York tournament. Balanganayi is averaging 17.3 points and is getting scoring help from Abram Williams (9.4 points), Brady May (8.6 points) and Robbie Wilcox (8.0 points).

Prospect: The Knights (8-11, 1-5) are still looking to get adjusted to playing in the MSL West. But Prospect is getting solid production from Quinn Zinzer, who is averaging 11.1 points, Colin Tucker, who is averaging 8.7 points, and Danny Simon, who is averaging 8 points and 8 rebounds. Danilo Aleksic has started the last couple of games for the Knights and has added some energy and rebounding while being a solid rim protector.

Rolling Meadows: The Mustangs (13-7, 2-4) are improving each week as their record indicates. Andrew Krestel, who had a career-high 28 points against Buffalo Grove on Monday, is averaging 10 points. Marty Lesner is also averaging 10 points while Tyler Stankewicz is averaging 9 points.

Schaumburg: The Saxons (13-8, 5-1) have won five straight and are right in the thick of the battle for the MSL East. Masyn Harrell, who is a sophomore, has emerged during this winning streak. He led the Saxons in scoring in one game and is a solid defender while averaging about 20 minutes per game. Tony Horton leads Schaumburg by averaging 15.2 points, while Cam Anderson is averaging 11.5 and Ray Black 8.7 points.

St. Viator: The Lions (13-6, 3-1) are finding ways to win. Down by 14 last Friday to Joliet Catholic, Viator rallied to tie the game to force overtime. They then scored 21 points in overtime to win by 9. Dawson Charles, who is averaging 16.5 points, scored 30 in the game while Jacob Only, who is averaging 13.1, scored 20 for St. Viator, which has now won five in a row.

Wheeling: Zach Neukirch recently set the career rebounding and career steals records in our game against Chicago Senn. Zach is currently at 607 career rebounds. Neukirch is also averaging 13.2 points for Wheeling (5-16, 1-5) while Peter Kulig Is averaging 8 points. The Wildcats have also been getting top notch play from Rahmeer Robinson-Williams has been averaging 6 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 56% from the field since the start of the new year.