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Elgin CC enjoying one of most successful seasons

Don't expect the Elgin Community College men's basketball players to start walking around with big heads now that the Spartans have cracked the top 20 national rankings.

Checking egos at the door is the main reason this team is ranked in the first place.

ECC (18-6), the No. 20 team in the Feb. 3 NJCAA Division II poll, is enjoying success because the Spartans enjoy sharing the ball, not to mention the credit, their coach says.

"I know for a fact that we've had six different players be our leading scorer in a game," said ECC coach Reed Nosbisch, whose team is ranked for the first time in his eight seasons. "And we probably get an assist on 70 percent of our field goals. It's not a group that's going to put the ball on the floor, drive and finish on their own. This team wins because it makes the extra pass to find the open man."

The ringleader of the share-a-ball program is freshman point guard Ryan Cork, a former all-area pick from Hampshire averaging 5.9 assists and 9.9 points per game. He averaged 6 assists per game as a high school senior.

Cork has already dished 141 assists while committing just 47 turnovers. To put that in perspective, ECC's previous record for single-season assists was 110 set by Bartlett graduate Mike Banks. Another Bartlett product, guard John Moss, currently averages 3.2 assists per game along with 8.3 points.

Another key to the Spartans' success is their long-range shooting accuracy. ECC shoots 35.8 percent from 3-point range, 35th best in the country. They average 7 makes in 19.7 attempts.

Sophomore Matt Chaltin from Bartlett leads the Spartans with 36 3-pointers in 83 attempts (43.4 percent). He averages a team-best 15.1 ppg.

Streamwood graduate Zack Harris (6-foot-10, 230 pounds) is ECC's second-leading scorer. A big man with the ability to pick and pop, he averages 12.7 ppg while shooting 50.6 percent from the field (123 of 243).

Contributing to ECC's success is a player who revived his playing career after a long absence from the game. Justin Bieber, a 2010 Hampshire graduate and two-time all-area pick, originally played for ECC out of high school but left after a semester.

Last summer he decided to return to school and return the program by completing the necessary course work. A more mature Bieber is thriving in his second basketball incarnation. He is ECC's third-leading scorer (11.7 ppg) after connecting on 40 of 107 shots from 3-point range (37.4 percent).

"He's strong as an ox and can run all day," said Nosbisch, who points out that Bieber is still eligible to play at the Division III and NAIA levels. "Every game he gets our toughest defensive assignment."

The Spartans were riding an 11-game winning streak until last Thursday, when they dropped a Skyway Conference game to league-leading Moraine Valley, 65-56.

ECC dropped its second straight game on Tuesday at Morton, but Nosbisch holds out hope his team will have a chance to tie for the league title when ECC hosts Moraine Valley in the regular season finale on Feb. 19. The Spartans are 2 games behind with 6 to play.

"The best-case scenario is that we're playing for the conference title on the last night of the regular season," Nosbisch said. "We can't control what Moraine does, only ourselves. Otherwise, we're still looking at a top-four seed in the (Region IV) playoffs, which would get us a home game in the quarterfinal round.

"We should be fine as long as we keep sharing the ball and doing what we've been doing. Our opponent has to look at who they want to take away the most. If they want to take away Chaltin, it opens things up for Harris. If they take away Harris and clog the paint, it allow guys on the perimeter to knock down shots. I have 13 guys I trust. When they take away one guy, there's always someone there to pick up the slack."

Larkin game canceled: Larkin's home game against Curie scheduled for Friday has become a casualty of Mother Nature.

Sunday's blizzard and Monday's corresponding snow day forced the Chicago Public League Tournament to be rescheduled, thereby causing a conflict for Curie on Friday.

No makeup date has been set and the game may not be made up, Larkin coach Deryn Carter said.

Closing in on 1,000: The three area boys basketball players who reached the 1,000-point scoring plateau recently will soon be joined by three more.

South Elgin junior Matty Smith has 991 career points after a 14-point outing on Tuesday against Bartlett. He is likely to surpass 1,000 points tonight at East Aurora.

Bartlett senior guard Ryan DiCanio is within striking distance with 974 career points following his 26-point performance in Tuesday's 75-53 victory over South Elgin. He could reach the milestone Thursday at Waubonsie Valley or next Tuesday at Lake Park. DiCanio's season high is 43 points, a Bartlett single-game record.

St. Edward senior Nick Duffy will likely reach 1,000 points late next week. The 6-foot-4 center entered Wednesday's game at IC Catholic Prep with 950 career points. He projects to reach the mark next Tuesday at Glenbard South or next Friday at home against Aurora Central Catholic.

Jacobs guard Chrishawn Orange, Cary-Grove guard Jason Gregoire and Westminster Christian forward Sam Carani each surpassed the 1,000-point mark in the last two week.

Zack Harris
John Moss
Matt Chaltin
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