St. Charles East vs. Geneva looms large in UEC River

St. Charles East can strike a blow to Geneva's repeat title hopes when last year's co-champions of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division tangle in St. Charles Friday at 7 p.m.

Geneva (10-3, 1-2), which already has dropped UEC River boys basketball games to Streamwood and surprise leader Batavia (7-6, 4-0), can't afford a third division loss in four tries, particularly against St. Charles East (8-6, 3-0).

The Saints could find themselves in sole possession of first place when the dust settles Friday night if they defeat the Vikings and Batavia loses to visiting Larkin (8-6, 2-1).

St. Charles East lost 2 of 3 meetings to Geneva in 2014-15, including a season-ending 73-70 defeat in a regional final.

"We know what's at stake being where we're at in conference right now at 3-0," Saints coach Patrick Woods said. "We have to come ready to play."

Geneva could get a lift from the possible return of 6-foot-8 senior Bennett Fuzak, who has not played since suffering a concussion in a Dec. 11 win against Larkin. He has been cleared to play, though Geneva coach Phil Ralston would not say definitively on Thursday if Fuzak will see action.

"We think so. That's the conversation we've been having," Ralston said. "Obviously, we're not 100 percent sure. Regardless, he'll be in uniform."

"I expect we will see Mr. Fuzak," Woods said. "I'm fairly confident he will be playing."

The identity of each team has changed since last season due to graduation losses and key injuries. The result is a contrast in styles. St. Charles East scores 63.8 ppg; Geneva's defense limits opponents to an area-low 40 ppg.

"We like to grind a bit and run actions that will give us high-percentage shots," Ralston said. "At times that means three or four passes before we get that look. They like to spread the court and beat you off the dribble or a ball screen and kick it out to open guys and shoot threes. We have to do a good job of handling their speed and transition game and do a good job of shutting down their 3-point shooters."

St. Charles East's 3-point attack is led by JT Ford (26 of 76), Ben Talarczyk (11 of 33), Zach Hondlik (10 of 22), Grayson Brucato (8 of 22), James McQuillan (7 of 19) and Evan DiLeonardi (7 of 20), all seniors.

Growing up: First-year West Aurora coach Brian Johnson expects to see signs of growth from his young Blackhawks in the season's second half.

West Aurora (3-7), which has only three seniors on the roster and one in the regular rotation, faced a difficult first-half schedule armed with only one returning starter with any experience to speak of: 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Camron Donatlan.

He is joined in the rotation by fellow sophomores Benjamin Young (6-4) and Damian Virgen (6-0) along with a host of juniors.

Donatlan leads the Blackhawks with 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game in 9 games. Junior guard DaQuan Cross (5-10) averages 8.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg and 2.5 apg.

Junior Caleb Siler averages 8.3 points and 3.2 rebounds and Davion Cross and Young contribute 6 points apiece.

"I think we'll start playing better as we start playing more conference games and getting into more situations that they're used to as opposed to going down to Rock Island which was new for them, or Pontiac, which was a big deal," Johnson said. "The second half is definitely a little more familiar for them. You would definitely hope there would be some more consistency and, come February, it would be nice to see us playing our best ball."

Happy New Year: Larkin junior Christian Negron picked up another Division-I offer during a New Year's Eve visit to Butler.

The Bulldogs join a growing list of suitors for Negron, who enters Friday's game at Batavia averaging 15.9 points and 12.2 rebounds for the Royals (8-6). He already holds offers from Illinois, Iowa, DePaul and Virginia Tech.

The talented 6-foot-6 forward traveled to Indianapolis to experience a top-20 matchup between No. 18 Butler and Big East foe Providence, currently ranked No. 8.

The Butler visit came on the heels of a visit to DePaul on Dec. 30, when Negron attended a game between the Blue Demons and Georgetown. DePaul was among the first schools to make him an offer.

Negron said he has no more visits planned for the remainder of this season.

Long rest: Elgin's victory at the E.C. Nichols Holiday Classic at Marengo on Dec. 23 was the second tournament title of the season for the Maroons, who also won the West Chicago Thanksgiving Tournament.

It marks the first time Elgin (10-4) has won two holiday tournaments in the same campaign since 2011-12, when Kory Brown (North Dakota State), Dennis Moore (Wisconsin-Whitewater football) and Arie Williams (Barry University) led the Maroons to titles at Buffalo Grove and the now-defunct Elgin Tournament.

The 64-58 victory over Rockford Christian in the Marengo finale was the Maroons' sixth straight.

"It's nice to be on a winning streak," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "We may not be the most talented team around, but a little confidence can be a dangerous thing this time of year."

Elgin is succeeding thanks to balanced contributions. Wings Desmond Douglas and Reggie Cole and posts Courtese Cooper and Lavion Baldwin each average better than 10 points per game, Sitter said.

The Maroons hope to maintain their momentum after a 20-day break. Their season resumes on Jan. 12 in an Upstate Eight River game at Streamwood.

Such a layoff can be good and bad, Elgin's coach said.

"We had some players, like Jacob (Zajac) who were coming back from an injury, so it's good in that regard," Sitter said. "And you can definitely get some fine-tuning done. But after a while they start getting anxious. They get sick of seeing me and practicing against each other."

West Aurora fundraiser: The West Aurora boys basketball program will host a drawdown event at Open Range Southwest Grill at the Bliss Creek Pine Room in Sugar Grove on Jan. 30 from 7:30 p.m. until midnight.

The event will take place after the varsity team plays at Batavia's Night of Hoops Shootout. All proceeds from the night will benefit the basketball program.

Tickets for the event are $100, and only 100 tickets will be sold. Included with the purchase is admission for two to the event, food and soft drinks, and the chance to win the grand prize of $2000. You do not have to attend the event to win the cash prizes.

Additionally, there will be a silent auction, raffle and 50/50 drawing.

Tickets can be purchased at all of the home boys varsity games or by contacting coach Brian Johnson via email at brianjohnson@sd129.org or by phone at 630-301-6656.