Boys basketball: Northwest all-area team
Austin Amann Elk Grove
The backbone of the Elk Grove program the last two seasons, Amann put the finishing touches on an outstanding career that he ended as the school's all-time leading scorer, all-time assists leader and second all-time in rebounds. This year he averaged 18.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and drained 48 3's. “The thing I was most impressed about with Austin was his all-around play,” said coach Anthony Furman. “It wasn't just scoring. He did a little bit of everything. Whatever we asked him to do, he did, and did it without consequence.”
Andrew Apel Buffalo Grove
Apel became a starter near the end of his sophomore year and continued to exceed expectations as a junior, averaging 13.1 points. One of the most physical players in the area, Apel also averaged 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals. “He guarded all five spots on the floor and that gave us a lot of flexibility as a team,” said coach Ryan O'Connor. “We could go small or we could go big because of his defensive versatility. It made us very adaptable in a lot of situations.”
Ore Arogundade St. Viator
Arogundade built on an all-area sophomore season with an even-more impressive junior campaign, averaging 19.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2 steals per game. Already with three Division I offers, Arogundade took his game to another level in the second half of the season with big-time performances in wins over state-ranked Marian Catholic and Benet. “He's a monster in transition and has always been that way,” said coach Mike Howland. “He can play against any type of defense and is just a really tough matchup for other teams.”
Zach Bart Barrington
The Broncos needed plenty of production out of their only true big man and Bart delivered in his first full varsity season. The junior averaged 11.6 points while shooting just under 60 percent from the field. “Zach was an inside presence for us all year,” said coach Bryan Tucker. “He took the pressure off of our perimeter players, creating scoring opportunities for them as defenses were forced to sag in on him.”
Allante Bates Maine West
To understand just how much attention Bates commanded, look no further than the Warriors' regional semifinal against St. Patrick in which the Shamrocks' sole focus was shutting the senior down. Bates shot just under 50 percent from the floor in averaging 12 points. “He has an ability to score without running a lot of sets for him and he has an ability to create his own shot, which is so important at the high school level,” said coach Erik McNeill.
Sean Benka Fremd
No task was too tall for the 6-foot-5 senior who guarded every position on the floor and also stepped up his game on offense with his ability to get to the basket. Benka averaged 7.7 points and shot 47 percent from the field for the regional finalist Vikings. “He can guard a forward or a guard, whoever we ask him to,” said coach Bob Widlowski. “He's brought a very competitive attitude for us on a consistent basis and been a very steady part of us this season.”
Kyle Bolger Schaumburg
The Mid-Suburban West player of the year capped off a magnificent three-year varsity career by averaging 15.6 points, 2.4 assists and shooting 47 percent from the field, leading the Saxons to their second straight MSL title. The senior point guard and repeat all-area pick always played his best in his team's biggest games and will be remembered for his leadership on and off the floor. “Kyle is everything we want a Schaumburg basketball player to be,” said coach Matt Walsh. “He's extremely hard-working, coachable and unselfish.”
Matt Dolan Rolling Meadows
Dolan's emergence was a big reason the Mustangs got hot near the end of the season. The 6-foot-3 junior was dominant at times on both ends of the floor, averaging 12 points and 9 rebounds. “We knew he was going to be good, but we didn't realize he was going to be this good this soon,” said coach Kevin Katovich. “He's hard to guard because he's so big and strong, but he can also play on the outside.”
Mark Falotico St. Viator
After receiving quality minutes as a freshman, Falotico thrived in a starting role as a sophomore, averaging 10.5 points and 3.7 assists. And even more impressive to his coach is the point guard turned the ball over less than twice per game. “He does what we need him to do to win each ballgame,” said coach Mike Howland. “Some games that's distributing and getting people involved, and other games he's got to score 20 for us. He will do whatever it takes that night to help us win.”
Bobby Frasco Prospect
Frasco stepped up for the East champs in his first year as a varsity starter. The junior knocked down 53 3-pointers, led the Knights in scoring at 13 per game and also averaged just under 2 blocks and 2 steals per game. “The best part of his game is that he's becoming more of a dynamic scorer in that he can get to the rim and hit the outside shot,” said coach John Camardella. “I know that growth will continue of making his game multi-faceted.”
Mike Fuerst Hersey
It isn't common to be proficient in both rebounding and taking charges, but that's exactly what the 6-foot-5 Fuerst was able to do. The junior led the Huskies on the boards (7.2) and set a team record with 38 charges while also contributing on offense at 8.3 points per game. “He made it a lot easier for our shooters to get shots and for our drivers to drive,” said coach Steve Messer. “Positionally, he's as good of a defensive player as I've ever had.”
Riley Glassmann Fremd
There was no easy solution to stopping Glassmann on the offensive end, where he averaged 15.2 points. The 6-foot-4 junior was equally comfortable playing in the post and on the perimeter. And his defensive prowess is an underrated aspect of his game. “We've asked him to score and to defend a wide variety of different players,” said coach Bob Widlowski. “He provides a difficult matchup on offense for a lot of people because of his size and his basketball intelligence.”
Kevin Hammarlund St. Viator
Hammarlund contributed in a variety of ways for the regional champs, averaging 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals. But statistics don't fully explain the senior's impact. “The first word that comes to mind with him is winner,” said coach Mike Howland. “He does whatever it takes for us to win. That means guarding the best player on the other team every single night, taking a big charge and sometimes going out and scoring 20.”
Mike Houghton Prospect
Houghton continued a standout senior year that already included all-area honors in football by controlling the middle for the East champs. A bruiser in the paint, the Army football commit averaged 9 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 55 percent. “He's in incredible shape for a guy who plays his position at his size,” said coach John Camardella. “He did a lot in terms of clogging up the middle, help-side defense and weak-side rebounding.”
Omar Lozoya Leyden
Leyden relied on Lozoya to knock down big shots throughout his career, and this year was no different as he averaged 13 points and drained 65 3-pointers. And in his senior year, Lozoya's game expanded beyond just scoring. “I was really proud of the development that he made in other aspects of his game, too,” said coach Bill Heisler. “He rebounded and defended this year better than he ever has.”
Jimmy Lundquist Schaumburg
Lundquist was a fixture in the starting lineup for three West crowns and two MSL titles, averaging 9.7 points and 6 rebounds in his second all-area season. The 6-foot-6 senior helped space the floor with his 48 3-pointers. “Jimmy has been a rock the last three seasons,” said coach Matt Walsh. “He anchors our defense, he's our leading rebounder and his ability to shoot the ball really helped our offense.”
Chris Macahon Palatine
Perhaps the biggest difference between the 3-win Pirates of 2011-12 and this season's 17-win team was the sophomore's presence running the team. Macahon averaged 10 points, 3.6 points and 3.5 rebounds at point guard. “He's a calming influence out there,” said coach Eric Millstone. “When the ball is in his hands, we're in great shape. Whether it's him scoring, running the break or getting us into our half court offense, he's in control of the tempo of the game.”
Devin O'Hara Prospect
O'Hara never shied away from the big moment and was invaluable in the East-clinching win over Elk Grove and the MSL title game loss to Schaumburg. The senior, who will play quarterback at Western Illinois, averaged 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field. “He slowly and steadily has become one of our leaders,” said coach John Camardella. “His leadership and demeanor is a big part of how we were successful this year. He can do just about everything.”
Luke Potnick Buffalo Grove
The Mid-Suburban East player of the year built on his reputation as a high-volume scorer, averaging 21.4 points and sinking 73 3-pointers. And Potnick also did plenty of distributing to the tune of 3.1 assists per game. “He understood that the more he gets his teammates involved, the more success we would have,” said coach Ryan O'Connor. “For someone who is so talented in terms of scoring, if you're willing to give the ball up, it makes you even more deadly as a scorer.”
Cole Reyes Schaumburg
The North Dakota football signee considered not playing basketball this season to focus on training, but the Saxons were sure glad he did take to the hardwood. Reyes averaged 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals for the MSL champs. “He was a lockdown defender for us and usually got the matchup of following the other team's top scoring threat,” said coach Matt Walsh. “He was a huge scoring threat himself and really attacked the basket well.”
Kevin Schimel Conant
As steady as any player all season for the Cougars, Schimel's versatility far outweighed any statistical contribution. The 6-foot-4 senior averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds for the regional finalist and held his own defensively matching up with big guys such as Davidson-bound Andrew McAuliffe of Glenbrook North. “He's had a very consistent year on both ends of the floor,” said coach Tom McCormack. “He's not the typical center that you would think of, at least in our league. Other centers have trouble keeping up with him.”
Roosevelt Smart Palatine
Nearly unguardable with a single defender, Smart averaged 18.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in his second varsity season. The rising sophomore already has several Division I offers and is receiving interest from nearly every Big Ten school. “Early in the year, he saw himself as a threat and wanted to do so much that I thought he rushed some things,” said coach Eric Millstone. “About seven or eight games in, I thought he really settled in and he flat-out dominated games.”
Jonny Woolf Leyden
When Woolf was on his game, so too were the Eagles. The senior's versatility in averaging 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.7 steals won't be easy to replace. “Going forward, we're going to miss him more than anyone else because he could really make plays on his own,” said coach Bill Heisler. “Jonny was really good at creating something out of just a mess.”
Brad Zaumseil Barrington
The three-year starter caused opposing coaches plenty of headaches with his ability to dominate a game in a variety of ways. Zaumseil led the Broncos in scoring (17.6), assists (4.2), steals (2.7) and 3-pointers (45) and was the team's second leading rebounder at 5.2 per game. “He could hurt teams in so many ways,” said coach Bryan Tucker. “I'm sure everyone game-planned for him and tried to take him out of the equation, but it was just so hard to do.”
All-area roster
Player School Pos. Yr.
Austin Amann Elk Grove G Sr.
Andrew Apel Buffalo Grove F Jr.
Ore Arogundade St. Viator F Jr.
Zach Bart Barrington F Jr.
Allante Bates Maine West G Sr.
Sean Benka Fremd F Sr.
* Kyle Bolger Schaumburg G Sr.
Matt Dolan Rolling Meadows F Jr.
Mark Falotico St. Viator G So.
Bobby Frasco Prospect G Jr.
Mike Fuerst Hersey F Jr.
Riley Glassmann Fremd G Jr.
Kevin Hammarlund St. Viator F Sr.
Mike Houghton Prospect F Sr.
Omar Lozoya Leyden F Sr.
Jimmy Lundquist Schaumburg F Sr.
Chris Macahon Palatine G So.
Devin O'Hara Prospect F Sr.
Luke Potnick Buffalo Grove G Sr.
Cole Reyes Schaumburg G Sr.
Kevin Schimel Conant C Sr.
Roosevelt Smart Palatine G So.
Jonny Woolf Leyden G Sr.
Brad Zaumseil Barrington G Sr.
* Captain
Special mention
Joe Biko (Hoffman Estates, Sr., F), Robert Hudson (Conant, Sr., G), Jack Milas (Rolling Meadows, Sr., G), Kishan Patel (Elk Grove, Sr., G), Jeremy Stephani (Wheeling, Jr., G)
Honorable mention
Ben Carlson (Fremd, Jr., F), Anthony Gonzalez (Leyden, Sr., C), Greg Grana (Palatine, Sr., G), Patrick Martin (St. Viator, Sr., G), D'Angelo McBride (Conant, Jr., G), Scott Nelson (Barrington, Sr., G), Tom Kukec (Maine West, Sr., G), Alex Sutrinaitis (Hersey, Sr., G)
Selections and profiles by Ryan O'Gara