Talking 2015 high school hoops - and other subjects too
Happy New Year, hoops fans!
Eyes on Five makes its 2015 debut the same way it did in 2014 - with Kevin Schmit chiming in on boys basketball and Orrin Schwarz adding his two cents on girls basketball.
Every now and then (like this edition) we'll also toss in tidbits from elsewhere in the prep sports scene.
Let's get after it...
1. The red-hot Redwings:
If girls basketball teams hoped it would take a little time for Benet to adjust to new coach Joe Kilbride after veteran Peter Paul retired, they've been sorely disappointed.
The Redwings have been the story of the girls season so far, going 18-0 and winning the Montini Christmas Tournament, as well as the Naperville North/Benet Tournament and the Naperville Central/Benet Tip-Off Tournament.
Clearly, Benet has played a strong schedule, defeating Geneva, Montini and Trinity in consecutive games at Montini's tournament alone. The second half of its schedule doesn't get any easier.
The Redwings play Wheaton North tournament champion Hinsdale Central at Fremd's shootout on Sunday and Fremd at the McDonald's Shootout the following weekend. Oswego East tournament champ Marian Catholic is on the schedule in an East Suburban Catholic Conference game Feb. 4, two days before the Redwings play up-and-coming York.
One more thing: These Redwings aren't winning ugly. They're as fun to watch as any team around, boys or girls, scoring 80 points against Naperville Central, 86 against Fenwick and 81 against Wheaton Warrenville South. They hustle, they can shoot, they can pass, they can rebound and they pressure opponents all night long.
If they're just getting warmed up, this could be a very special season at Benet.
2. Waiting on Bambule:
Sixteen seconds into Montini's second game of its own holiday tournament, the Broncos lost sophomore guard Kaylee Bambule to a bone bruise on her knee when she crashed into the bleachers hustling after a loose basketball.
The Broncos won that game against Huntley, but they couldn't beat Benet or Marian Catholic in their remaining tourney games without a player who shoots 50 percent from 3-point range.
Fortunately, Bambule is expected back in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, Montini's great depth is showing. Nikki Oppenheimer, Emily Cochrane and Tiara Wallace have taken turns showing they can do some good things too. Montini's defense remains strong, as well.
When Bambule returns and finds a groove, the Broncos will go back to being the team to beat in Class 3A again.
3. Setting sites:
This week the IHSA announced which venues put in bids to host the boys and girls state tournaments between 2016 and 2020. Bids were due Jan. 1, and the result was a mixed bag.
As expected, current boys host Peoria and former host Champaign are going head-to-head. Also not surprising, Hoffman Estates jumped into the ring in an attempt to draw the tourney to the Sears Centre.
A bit surprising, though, is that the Sears Centre bid for only the weekend of the Class 3A and 4A tourneys. If the IHSA goes that direction, Peoria or Champaign likely would host 1A and 2A the weekend before.
Despite speculation when the process began, there's no Chicago bid.
On the girls side, longtime host Illinois State University wants to keep the tourney at Redbird Arena. Its only rival is an intriguing one: Bradley University's Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria.
Opened in 2010, the Renaissance Coliseum hosts women's basketball games and volleyball matches. But while the IHSA's bid requirements list a seating capacity minimum of 5,000, Bradley's website lists capacity at 4,200 seats.
The IHSA's Board of Directors will select the winning bids no later than March 21.
Best of luck to all, but bet on the incumbents.
4. Football fail:
Also this week, the IHSA announced the results of the statewide membership vote on six proposed bylaw amendments.
The one that stirred up the biggest dust storm - Proposal 10 - would have completely changed the face of prep football in Illinois. It would have eliminated conferences and placed regular-season scheduling in the hands of the IHSA through a geographic regional format.
Playoff qualification also would change as the top four finishers in each region advance to the postseason.
Despite a buzz about a need for change, the membership handily rejected the proposal by a vote of 395-212.
No doubt it'll be back to the drawing board for folks yearning for a change in the current landscape. Part of the motivation for Proposal 10 was eliminating the conference jumping that's jarred the state in recent years.
That motivation hasn't ebbed, no matter how the vote turned out.
Keep in mind that 76 percent of the membership voted this year, which is a 20 percent increase from last year. The IHSA attributes the boost to a new system of email voting, but the boost also shows a clear interest in football's status quo.
In some form - maybe multiple forms - this subject will come up again when proposals are submitted again in the fall.
The key to success will be uniting as many pockets of the state as possible.
5. Stat time:
For the second straight year York successfully made it through a dizzying five-day tournament featuring a whopping 32 teams.
After 67 games the 41st annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic championship went to Lake Forest with a 69-42 win over Riverside-Brookfield in a showdown between unbeatens.
That's a lot of boys basketball games.
Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_schmit
Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz