Pairings delay won't affect much

The blizzard that canceled two days of boys basketball games also pushed back the Class 1A and 2A playoff pairings.

The delay won't strongly impact local 2A teams Lisle, Immaculate Conception and Timothy Christian.

Illinois High School Association pairings initially were to have been completed by Friday. Nowadays submitting team summary sheets and voting is all done online instead of at a meeting at the sectional site, but school closures moved the seeding to next Monday and Tuesday, with pairings released by the IHSA by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

"I was all ready to send my seeds in right away, but I might as well wait to see how things pan out this weekend," said Timothy Christian coach Jack LeGrand, whose 12-7 Trojans look for a top-three seed at the 2A Immaculate Conception regional along with presumed top seed Providence-St. Mel and the host Knights (10-12). The IC regional feeds into the Aurora Christian sectional, which also includes the Lisle regional.

"I think the people that are going to be affected most is if you play somebody head-to-head that you wouldn't have played otherwise," said Lisle coach Mark LaScala.

Since pertinent head-to-head meetings have already occurred, most of the positioning has already taken place.

Lisle (7-14) beat 9-13 Aurora Christian but fell to 11-11 Westmont in triple overtime. Early this season Immaculate Conception beat Timothy, which also lost to Providence-St. Mel in overtime.

The best thing these teams can do this weekend is just win.

Lisle has Manteno and Woodland, while Westmont gets Plano. Early this season Lisle lost to Plano but got revenge at the recent Interstate Eight Conference Tournament.

Timothy Christian faces Metro Suburban Conference rival Illiana Christian. Immaculate Conception has a tough road against Chicago Christian and Aurora Central Catholic.

"It will add two more games to my total," said IC coach Darren Howard, "so it maybe changes our argument either pro or con depending on if we win or lose those games."

One thing the snow did affect momentum.

"We've been playing much better basketball and we want to keep the continuity going," said LeGrand, whose Trojans have won five straight games. "I was over by coach (current Naperville North and former Timothy coach Jeff) Powers' house and we were saying, 'I don't want this snow, because we were playing pretty well.'"

Back to back:

The back muscle strain that's recently sidelined Benet senior Dave Sobolewski flared up again last week, forcing the Northwestern-bound guard to miss last week's 57-51 East Suburban Catholic Conference win at Nazareth.

In fact Sobolewski was shut down after the Redwings' win over Glenbard East on Jan. 22 and didn't see any court time last week.

With conference home games scheduled for Benet (22-0, 8-0) this weekend against St. Patrick and Marist, Sobolewski's status remains uncertain.

"It changes day to day," said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. "His back didn't respond too well after the Glenbard East game, so we shut him down for the week."

Seven-footer Frank Kaminsky, backup point guard Kevin Doyle and others are stepping up with ball-handling duties, while Matt Parisi, Pat Boyle, Pat McInerney and James Roemer have picked up their scoring.

The combination has the Redwings still rolling as they try to wrap up a share of the ESCC title with two wins this weekend. Down the road, however, Heidkamp knows his team needs Sobolewski.

"The state tournament's what it's all about," said Heidkamp, whose team is positioned to be the top seed in the Class 4A East Aurora sectional. "That's when we definitely need him back."

Brothers in action:

Due to an invitation by former Wheaton Warrenville South athletic director Bob Quinn, now the AD at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, brothers Mike and Shawn Healy are taking their respective teams to the Wendy's American Trust Basketball Classic this Saturday in Dubuque.

"We were fortunate that Bob Quinn was thinking about us," said Shawn Healy, whose St. Francis Spartans (10-9) get the 8 p.m. marquee match against Wahlert Catholic while Mike's WW South Tigers (10-9) play Dubuque Senior High at 6:15 p.m.

In the midst of the season's dog days, this road trip provides something different.

"I was looking for something. We try to do an overnight every year," said Shawn Healy, five years Mike's junior and each a St. Francis graduate.

The brothers, who will each bring their wives and children, have spent a little time coordinating their itinerary, discussing their opponents and casting a wide net to dig up information.

It was an easy call to former Benet coach Marty Gaughan and request a scouting report from his son Brian, a junior guard at Loras College, which also has Neuqua Valley's Danny Pawelski and Glenbard South's Mike Rovansek on its roster.

The Wheaton entourage will be eating at a Dubuque restaurant owned by the nephew of St. Francis football coach Greg Purnell, a Loras graduate and Dubuque native who coached for years in the area.

"I think it'll be like a little bit of a Wheaton feel out in Dubuque, Iowa," Shawn Healy said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Taking charge:

With four wins in two weeks, Downers Grove South changed the face of the West Suburban Gold.

The Mustangs (18-3, 7-1) first hit the road on Jan. 21 and handed Proviso East (15-3, 6-1) its first Gold loss. After beating Addison Trail, last weekend Downers South beat fellow Gold contenders Hinsdale South and Morton.

Nothing's guaranteed with four Gold games still to play including a rematch with Proviso East on Feb. 17 but the Mustangs have placed themselves in a solid position as they chase the title.

"Coming off the Proviso win it's hard not to have a letdown," said Mustangs coach Jay Baum. "But we've continued to play real well."

While junior guard Jerron Wilbut has been a consistent leader for the Mustangs, it's their depth that's carried the team to its high level of success. Backcourt mates Jamall Millison and Dan Jurgutis in addition to forward Kevin Honn and 6-foot-8 center Ziggy Riauka all have taken turns contributing.

"We have several guys capable of stepping up and having big games for us," Baum said. "There are a lot of different ways we can beat teams."

Health check:

Naperville North's Matt LaCosse, an Illinois-bound standout who injured his knee in the Huskies' playoff football loss to Homewood-Flossmoor in November, is finally rounding into basketball shape.

In fact the 6-foot-6 senior forward made it official after last week's DuPage Valley Conference victory over Glenbard North that gave the Huskies (11-8, 6-2) their eighth win in 10 games.

"I'm finally back," he said. "It's been a really long time, but I'm glad I'm back in shape and back playing the basketball I'm used to playing. It's exciting."

In his seven games since returning to the lineup at the beginning of January, LaCosse is averaging 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds. He's hit double-figure scoring in each of his last five games and scored a season-high 21 points last week against Rich Central.

LaCosse notched his first double-double against Wheaton North by grabbing 11 rebounds, and many more are sure to follow.

He capped last Friday's 65-46 win over Glenbard North with a big dunk late in the game, yet another sign that LaCosse is finally healthy again.

"That was cherry-picking at its finest," LaCosse joked about the slam. "It was a great pass and I was just able to throw it down."