Wheeling's McClellan making it happen in PBL
From preps, to college, to pros.
Chris McClellan, the former Wheeling and Lewis University standout, has played at all three levels.
And he is still succeeding.
McClellan has had seven straight double-figures games for Bloomington in the Premier Basketball League.
He recently scored a game-high 20 in a 97-82 win over the Pee Dee Vipers at the Florence Civic Center as the Flex remained the PBL's lone unbeaten team at 11-0 while the Vipers fell to 8-2.
He had a season-high 30 on Feb. 12 against the Diesels.
The Flex (11-0) opened the end half against the Vipers by getting an alley-oop slam from Gary Redus on a perfect lob pass from McClellan.
McClellan did plenty of damage passing and shooting as he converted five 3-pointers.
His ability to penetrate to find the open player led to easy dunks or open 3- pointers.
“We knew McClellan could really shoot it,” Pee Dee Vipers coach Andre Bovain told the local South Carolina newspaper. “Any time they would pick and roll, we were going to double him to get the ball out of his hands. And we didn't double him. Once he got around the pick-and-roll, he had easy looks to wide-open guys. Our defensive assignments just broke down.”
This is McClellan's second professional contract since September, as he competed for Uni-Riesen Leipzig in Germany's Pro A Division.
Women's basketball
Truman State senior Bianca Szafarowicz (Wheeling) was named Most Outstanding Player in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament as the Deaconess won the title with a 58-45 victory over Maryville (Mo.) in Evansville, Ind.
Szafarowicz scored 11 points as Truman (22-8) won its first conference title in school history and earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Szafarowicz leads her team in steals (1.7 per game) and is third in team for scoring (12 points per game), assists (2.1 per game) and minutes played (29 per game).
This season, she has five of the team's 6 double-doubles.
She is the active career leader at Truman in rebounds with 483 and in games played at 104.
Szafarowicz's 46.5 percent career field goal percentage is ninth all-time with a minimum of 200 made.
Szafarowicz matched her career-high with 22 points and she had 8 rebounds when Truman defeated No. 2-seeded Lewis, 84-70, in the quarterfinals of the GLVC tournament.
That win gave Truman 20 wins for just the fourth time in school history and first back-to-back 20-win seasons.
Men's basketball
Washington University (St. Louis) senior Alan Aboona (St. Viator) wrapped up his collegiate career with 26 points and seven 3-pointers when the Bears fell to Calvin 83-75 in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament.
Alboona scored 27 points (five 3-pointers) with 4 assists in a 100-69 win against Wilmington in the opening round. It was the
Bearcats 19th straight win.
“All year we had the mentality of never backing down and that is how we entered the game tonight,” said Aboona after the game. “Calvin was a tough team and they hit their shots and made their free throws”.
Aboona finished his career among the top five in school history for assists and 3-pointers made.
He became the 22nd player in school history to score more than 1,000 points.
A two-year captain, he was named UAA conference player of the week three times. He was a UAA first-team selection twice and a two-time MVP of the Lopata Classic.
During his four year career, Washington compiled a record of 77-28 (.733), won the UAA conference three times and made it to the NCAA tournament three times.
• Wisconsin-Parkside sophomore Jimmy Gavin (Prospect) scored 20 points off the bench in a 90-78 loss to Bellarmine University in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
The 19th-ranked Rangers (23-6), who won the GLVA East Division, earned the eighth seed in the Midwest Region of the Division II national tournament.
Women's softball
Davenport junior KC Dunne (Buffalo Grove) was named this season's first ‘Player of the Week' in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.
Dunne helped DU to an 11-2 start by hitting safely in all but two of the contests. She was 18-for-34 (0.529) and had multiple hits in eight different games. She drove in 12 runs, including 2 homers and was 2-for-3 in stolen bases.
Women's golf
Bradley sophomore Allison Walsh (Prospect) finished out play with a 79 at the 12th annual Rio Verde Invitational to tie for 54th with a 239. The Braves shot a 315 for the third straight round to finish 13th on the field par-71 Quail Run Golf Course in Arizona.
Men's diving
Lake Forest College freshman Mat Obstoj (Hersey) helped the Foresters win the Midwest College Conference Championships over rival Grinnell College (Iowa).
Obstoj placed second on the 1-meter board with a score of 348 points and was third on the 3-meter board with a score of 359 points.
He earned valuable points for Lake Forest, which won its first men's championship since 2001.
Women's diving
Lake Forest College junior Sarah Pekar (Prospect) placed second on the 3-meter board with a score of 451 points and placed third on the 1-meter board with a score of 420 points to help the Foresters place second in the nine-team conference meet.
Pekar's performance earned her a qualifying spot at the NCAA Division III regional championships which were held this past weekend at Denison University in Glanville, Ohio. She placed 11th and 16th on the two boards.
• Christina Pekar (Prospect), Sarah's twin, competed in the same two meets for the Foresters.
Christina earned ‘Diver of the Meet' honors at the conference championships as she repeated as the conference champion on both boards.
In the 3-meter competition, Christina's score of 505 points established a pool record at the Grinnell College Pool.
On the 1-meter board, her first place total was 467 points.
Her top scores secured her an invitation to the NCAA Division III regionals where she placed fifth on both boards and earned a return trip to the Division III National Championship Meet, which will be held at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana later this month.
Christina also qualified for the national meet last year, where she earned honorable mention All-American honors on both boards.
The Lake Forest men and women's diving teams are coached by former Palatine High School diving coach Donna O'Brien.
Women's track
Illinois junior Britten Petrey (Schaumburg) finished 13th in the Big Ten Conference meet running a personal best of 4:55.39 in the mile at Geneva, Ohio on March 1.
• Illinois State sophomore Haley Goers (Hoffman Estates) finished sixth in the mile at the Missouri Valley Conference meet and finished 11th in the 3,000 meters, running a personal best time of 9:54.36 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
• North Central senior Nora Ferguson (Schaumburg) finished second in the 800 meters, third in the mile and seventh in the 5,000-meter at the CCIW Conference meet in Bloomington, Ill.
Men's track
Eastern Illinois senior Pablo Ramirez (Conant) finished first in the 5,000-meter and fourth in the 3,000-meter at the Ohio Valley Conference meet in Nashville, Tenn.
• Missouri sophomore Tyler Schneider (Conant) finished tenth in the 3,000-meter in 8:15.59 and 13th in the 5,000-meter at the SEC Conference meet held at Texas A&M University.
• Missouri sophomore Dan Roe (Buffalo Grove) finished 12th in the 5,000-meter with a personal best of 14:32.37.
• North Central junior Travis Morrison (Schaumburg) finished second in the 3,000 meters with a personal best of 8:21.89 at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Conference meet in Bloomington, Ill.
• Augustana sophomore Ethan Koch (Prospect) took fourth place in the 3000-meter (8:49.23) at the Stevens Point Open in Wisconsin.
Men's swimming
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Matt Schulstad (Buffalo Grove High) received all conference honors at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships by winning the 200 butterfly (1:51:48) and placing third in the 100 butterfly (50:49).
Schulstad broke the school's record in the 200 fly with his preliminary swim time of 1:51.37.
His 800-freestyle relay team came in second and set a school record with a time of 6:54:94. His 400 freestyle relay team placed second with a time of 3:06:61.
Women's hockey
Concordia University-Wisconsin freshman forward Veronika Metanova of Palatine has been named to the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association All-Freshman Team.
Metanova had a strong first season with the Falcons, leading the team in points (20) and goals (9).
She also was second on the team with 11 assists. The freshman scored 16 of her 20 points during the conference season (18 games). She recorded 6 goals and added 10 assists during conference play.
Men's basketball
Oakton College coach Mick Reuter was named Coach of the Year in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference.
The Wheeling resident guided the Raiders to a first-place finish (9-5) in the ISCC. Reuter started as an assistant coach for Oakton's basketball program in 1998 and was named head coach in 2008.
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.