Young vs. Montini matchup at Larkin worthy of seeing
The turkey having settled, it's time to move to step two of the girls basketball season, which kicks off in earnest this week as conference play around the Fox Valley area begins.
But on Saturday, conference wars take a break for the second annual Mac Irvin Diabetes Classic at Larkin. Three top-notch boys games will be played and one very marquee girls game, at 3:15 p.m., will pit defending Class 3A state champion Montini against defending Class 4A state champion Whitney Young of Chicago. Young is coached by 1992 Larkin graduate Corry (Carter) Irvin, the brother of Larkin boys basketball coach Deryn Carter.
The event is played for charity, as all proceeds are donated to the American Diabetes Association in memory of Irvin's father-in-law, Mac, who passed away in 2011.
In the first event last year, Corry Irvin brought her Whitney Young team to Elgin and her alma mater for the first time and beat Rolling Meadows 54-45 in a matchup of what would become the Class 4A state championship game in March, which Young won 60-44.
"It's nice to be able to do it again and have so many people involved in the event," Irvin said Sunday night. "It's all in-state teams and that makes it nice."
Irvin's Young team may have a bit of a different look to it this year as 6-foot-5 Khaalia Hillsman has graduated and moved on to Texas A&M but it's a safe bet the Dolphins, who will be playing their season opener on Saturday just as they did last year in the event, will be just as good if not better. They feature DePaul recruit, senior Tanita Allen, as well as Illinois State-bound senior guard Katrina Beck and 5-9 junior guard Madinah Muhammad, who has committed to Mississippi.
"We're a lot faster team this year," said Irvin, who scored 1,142 points in her Larkin career before going on to play at Fresno State. "Our speed up and down the court is better and we'll shoot more 3s. We'll be more up and down. It will be different from last year but more how we've played in the past."
How the Dolphins have played in the past is, in a word, incredible. Irvin, who continues to be assisted by her dad and longtime Elgin resident Deryl Carter, is in her 14th season at Young and has a career record of 359-53. Last year's state title was Young's third - and ninth state trophy - under Irvin, who has never had a losing season nor won fewer than 18 games.
And it's not like Irvin's teams rack up a bunch of wins against inferior competition. As the Dolphins have done for several years, they play the best of the best, within Illinois and out of state.
In fact, the Young team will stay around after its game Saturday to watch Larkin's boys play Morgan Park, coached by Corry's brother-in-law Nick, then the Dolphins will head to Benton Harbor, Mich., to play in the Derrick Coleman Classic on Sunday. Additionally, Young will travel to Washington, D.C. after Christmas for the Title IX DC Classic. The Dolphins also host Grosse Pointe North of Michigan on Dec. 20, and they will play Heritage Christian of Indianapolis on Jan. 10 at Fremd.
One question I'm always asked when Young's extensive schedule is part of a conversation is how a Chicago Public League school can afford to travel so much.
"We have to fundraise a lot," Irvin said. "We have 3-4 fundraisers that help fund anything we need. We host a shootout in December and that helps a lot and we do a lot of extra fundraisers."
Playing the competition Young does helps the Dolphins see different styles, on and off the court.
"It's definitely to see other styles because there are different styles in different states," Irvin said, "but it's also to give our players an opportunity away from the basketball court to start learning what opportunities basketball can give them outside the game."
Montini will present the Dolphins a season-opening challenge on Saturday. Coach Jason Nichols' Broncos may have lost two players who were expected to start this season - junior Paulina Castro who transferred to Harvest Christian and junior Claire Jakaitis who transferred to St. Charles North - but they are off to a 6-0 start, including a 41-19 win over Neuqua Valley, considered to be one of the top teams in Class 4A.
The Broncos return a decent amount of experience from last year's 35-2 state championship team that lost to Young 54-45 in late January at Montini, including senior guard Kelsey Bogdan, who is committed to Harvard. Their top new player is 6-5 freshman Lindsay Jarosinski.
Nice road trip: For just the second time in nearly 10 years of playing in the Dakota tournament, St. Edward won the championship going 5-0. The Green Wave got a standout five games from 6-4 senior Cece Rapp as well as balanced team play.
"Cece had a tremendous tournament offensively and defensively," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson of the Lindenwood signee who averaged 22 points per game for the tournament and had a high game of 26 in a 57-43 win over Dakota.
"She hit some big shots when we needed them and she altered so many shots in the paint with her defensive presence," Dawson said. "She really played with a high level of basketball IQ and the rest of the team played their roles to perfection."
The most quality win of the tournament was a 54-50 victory over Big Northern West favorite Byron, which will play at 5-0 Burlington Central in a Big Northern crossover on Friday.
"Byron's got a really nice team and that was a good win for us," said Dawson, whose team lost to Burlington Central in a regional final last year.
What to do in Dakota?: You don't stay in Dakota, that's for sure. St. Edward played at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday so with the time in between Dawson took the Green Wave to Freeport, 14 miles south of Dakota.
"We have lunch and then we go Christmas shopping at Farm and Fleet," said Dawson, whose team hosts Fenton Tuesday in its Metro Suburban West opener. "We don't let them sit around after lunch. We go walk around Farm and Fleet then head back to Dakota and watch the game before ours."
Milestone forthcoming: Huntley coach Steve Raethz is sitting on 249 career wins. No. 250 could come Tuesday when the Red Raiders host Morgan Park in a nonconference game.
Battle-tested: One could say that about Joliet Catholic, and now there's a Battle in charge. Former West Aurora and Illinois standout Kenny Battle is the new head coach at Joliet Catholic, where his sophomore daughter Ty is a "can't miss" Division I prospect. Battle was an assistant for the Angels last year when they finished second in Class 3A, losing to Montini in the state title game.
jradtke@dailyherald.com