Top-notch lineup set for Mac Irvin event at Larkin
It's rare to find three defending state champion basketball teams under one roof, but that's what fans can expect at the second annual Mac Irvin Diabetes Classic at Larkin on Saturday.
The daylong event features three high-caliber boys games and the marquee matchup of the girls basketball season thus far between defending Class 3A champion Montini and Class 4A champion Whitney Young, the latter coached by Larkin graduate Corry Carter Irvin, sister of Larkin boys coach Deryn Carter.
The charity event is played in memory of Mac Irvin, Corry's father-in-law, who passed away in 2011. Last year's inaugural Classic raised $3,500 for the American Diabetes Association, according to the event's Facebook page.
The lineup includes: Jacobs vs. Harlan, 1:30 p.m.; Montini vs. Whitney Young (girls), 3:15 p.m.; Proviso East vs. St. Viator, 5 p.m.; and defending Class 3A state champion Morgan Park vs. Larkin, 6:30 p.m.
Larkin is off to a 4-1 start, its lone loss coming by 28 points against talented Rockford Auburn in a tournament final last Saturday.
The Royals defeated Streamwood 60-40 in Tuesday's Upstate Eight River opener. Junior guard Keyvon Kyles led the way with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
"We've had some really good stretches of good basketball," Deryn Carter said. "We just have to turn a four-minute stretch into a seven- or eight-minute stretch. And there are times where we play a three- or four-minute stretch of bad basketball and that's got to go down to a one-minute stretch. We have some inexperience, but what I like is that the guys are fighting and they're working every day to get better."
The Royals face a stiff challenge in the two-time defending Class 3A champion Mustangs, coached by Nick Irvin, Mac's son. Guards Charlie Moore and Marcus LoVett are both skilled ballhandlers who can score. Lovett, a transfer from California, has reportedly been offered by Illinois and Kansas."
Elsewhere, the Mustangs are tall and deep. Larkin 6-6 sophomore Christian Negron and 6-5 junior Daniel McFadden will contend with 6-8 junior forward Alonzo Chatman, who has been offered by Northern Illinois. Negron has offers from DePaul and Bradley.
"I think they are one of the top one, two or three teams in the state, regardless of class," Carter said. "They've got everything a team would want: size, ballhandlers, playmakers on the perimeter, depth and good coaching. They're going to give us every challenge that a team could ask for."
The St. Viator-Proviso East matchup pits Pirates senior guard Kalin Fisher against Lions senior guards Mark Falotico (6-1) and Pat McNamara (6-5). St. Viator (4-0) won its own Thanksgiving tournament last Saturday with a 43-30 win over Prospect.
Proviso East (2-2) finished fourth last week at the Tournament of Champions event hosted by downstate Washington Community High School and Illinois Central College. The Pirates defeated Champaign Central and O'Fallon and lost to Carver (Ala.) and Washington. Fisher averaged 19.3 ppg.
Golden Eagles getting healthier: Jacobs (3-2) opens the second annual Mac Irvin Diabetes Classic at Larkin on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. with an intriguing matchup against Harlan (2-3).
The Falcons went 2-2 at the Lane Tech/Gordon Tech Thanksgiving Tournament, defeating Mt. Carmel and Taft but losing to Lane and Notre Dame. Farragut then thumped Harlan 65-36 on Wednesday.
"They're not one of the most well-known city teams, but they're a team on the rise the last few years," Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said of the Falcons. "Watching them play, they fly around and they play a couple of different defenses. They'll try to pressure you, they'll try to trap you, they'll try to chase you around the floor. They want to get out and go.
"If we can be disciplined, slow the tempo a little bit and take advantage of situations as they come, we'll be OK."
The Golden Eagles finished 2-2 at Palatine's Thanksgiving tournament, defeating Tilden and Deerfield and losing to Rolling Meadows and York. Jacobs had trouble figuring out York's 1-2-2 press, but Roberts said his players used that experience to play better against the same scheme three nights later in a 36-28 grind-it-out win at Warren.
Jacobs played its first 5 games without starting guard Kenton Mack, who is committed to Division-II Northern Michigan. Mack, who is returning from a meniscus procedure, was cleared by a doctor on Wednesday to resume basketball activity. Roberts said Mack is unlikely to play Saturday against Harlan, however.
Welcome Wagon: Bartlett hopes to parlay the confidence gained in winning the Wheaton Academy Thanksgiving Tournament into a hot start in the new-and-improved Upstate Eight Conference.
The Hawks will be put to the test right away. Not only are they the first to welcome West Aurora (2-2) back to the Upstate Eight Conference for the first time since 1996 with tonight's home game, they travel to Lombard on Saturday to face the UEC's other new-old member, Glenbard East. The Rams were original members when the UEC formed in 1963, but they left two years later for the Des Plaines Valley League and joined the DuPage Valley Conference in 1983.
"It's interesting that we get to experience the two DVC teams first," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said Thursday. "They are two excellent programs with hall-of-fame-level coaches. They make this one of the best basketball conferences in the state."
Ryan DiCanio led the Hawks with 19.8 points per game to win MVP honors at Wheaton Academy. The 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard should expect be the focus of opposing defensive schemes hatched by West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman and Glenbard East coach Scott Miller.
"What comes with a great start is now Ryan has to deal with that game plan to stop him and take him out of his comfort zone," Wolfsmith said. "That's why the game of basketball requires you to be flexible."