advertisement

Aurora Christian takes aim at No. 1 St. Edward

Many times there is debate as to which team should have earned a No. 1 playoff seed. That is not the case at the Class 2A Lisle boys basketball regional.

"St. Edward, I think they're the team to beat," said Pat McNamara, coach of No. 2 seed Aurora Christian (19-6).

Regional play begins Feb. 23 at Lisle, which feeds into the El Paso-Gridley supersectional.

"St. Edward, I think, is a very flexible team," McNamara said. "In that first game" - literally, Aurora Christian's first game of the year, a 73-62 St. Edward win - "we tried to pressure full court, and they've got three guards who can handle the ball pretty good. They're a smart team, well coached, do a good job getting the ball in to (forward Nick) Duffy, and they go inside-out."

A 6-foot-4 senior, Duffy surpassed 1,000 points for his career Tuesday as St. Edward (21-5) lost 74-62 to Riverside-Brookfield, a 22-win 4A team.

Duffy averages 16 points and 16.6 rebounds for the Green Wave. He's joined in double figures by senior guards Joe French and Gino Domel and sophomore guard Kelvin Cortez-Harvey - each of whom have made more than 30 3-point baskets and have recorded at least 50 steals.

"They've got multiple weapons and they change defenses a lot to keep you off balance. They know how to win," said Lisle coach Mark LaScala, whose Lions (10-14) own the fifth seed.

Win, they do. St. Edward coach P.J. White, who in the fall serves as offensive line coach for the Batavia varsity football team, has led the Green Wave to 20-win seasons each of the last three years with Duffy, French and senior forward Danny Favela on the squad.

This season St. Edward has gone 3-0 against the Lisle regional's No. 3 seed, IC Catholic Prep, which won the 2014 regional hosted by Aurora Christian.

"We're due," said IC coach T.J. Tyrrell, whose Knights have recovered from the abrupt mid-January transfer of star Rhashaun Epting to Proviso West. IC has gotten increasingly closer against St. Edward, including a 61-57 overtime loss on Feb. 4.

If it's hard to beat a team three times in a season, it's got to be really hard to beat a team four times.

"That's what we're banking on," Tyrrell said. "Each game has been more competitive. We want to see them in a regional championship."

That, of course, depends ...

The regional opens Monday with Lisle playing No. 4 Chicago Christian (13-12). The latter team's big win to date was beating longtime rival Illiana Christian, a 19-5 team that drew the top seed at the Beecher regional, which also feeds into El Paso-Gridley.

Monday's second game is IC (13-12) against No. 6 Westmont (8-17), which previously lost to St. Edward 59-56 and faced the Green Wave again Thursday. Westmont is 0-2 against Interstate Eight Conference rival Lisle.

On Feb. 24 St. Edward plays the winner of Chicago Christian-Lisle, followed by Aurora Christian taking on the IC-Westmont winner. The regional championship is at 7 p.m. Feb. 27.

"I think St. Ed's and Aurora Christian are the clear Nos. 1-2," said Lisle's LaScala. "After Nos. 1-2 I think anybody could beat anybody on a given night. If the Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are going to want to get to the finals they're going to have to upset somebody, and I think Ed's and Aurora Christian have more talent then the other teams."

For much of the season Aurora Christian had junior forward R.D. Lutze, guard Wes Wolfe and forward Zack Singer each averaging in double figures.

They're still all between 13 and just under 10 points, with super-sub Juwan Sisco impacting the game at power forward, junior guard Pat McNamara (the Eagles coach's son) playing the point and guard Jeremiah Wright coming off the bench to create defensive havoc.

"Sharing the ball has been a good thing," said coach Pat McNamara. "Over the last month I think we've dug in better defensively, and just blocking out."

Whoever survives between - or upsets - the favorites will have earned the long trip to the sectional at El Paso, which is 23 miles due north of Normal.

"The saving grace," Pat McNamara said, "is you don't want to go to Chicago."

Thanks!

West Aurora always puts together a nice senior night program that includes the favorite foods, movies, etc., of senior cheerleaders, poms, dancers, steppers, basketball players and basketball managers.

The mini-bio includes the topic of favorite memory. Blackhawks senior guard Marquis Howard filled this out with: "When I was named player of the week for the Daily Herald."

Howard was cited on Dec. 17 for his performance in the third week of the season. Most notably against Glenbard East the pizza-loving senior made 10 of 11 field goals including six 3-pointers for what remains his career high of 26 points.

Thanks for noticing, Marquis!

The big man:

A couple times during Geneva's 66-59 win at St. Charles North on Tuesday, the Vikings' 6-foot-8 Loudon Vollbrecht followed up one if not two of his own missed shots with an offensive rebound he inevitably put in the basket.

This drew a chuckle from Geneva coach Phil Ralston during the postgame interview session.

"For heaven's sakes, he's playing volleyball there a few times," Ralston said of Vollbrecht, who finished with 12 points and an unofficial 11 rebounds.

"My nickname for him is now going to be Moses Malone for purposely missing his first shot and getting his own rebound - padding his stats so he could get a double-double," Ralston said jokingly.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.