Burlington Central set to host its first MLK Tournament

Burlington Central boys basketball coach Brett Porto wanted to compete in a Martin Luther King weekend tournament, but he didn't find the idea of traveling to a faraway locale like Sterling or Rockford twice in three days very appealing.

His answer? Host a new tournament instead.

Thus, Porto and Central athletic director Steve Diversey put together Burlington Central's inaugural Martin Luther King Tournament, which takes place this Saturday and Monday.

"Looking around, it seemed like everything was really far away," Porto said. "You either had to go far west or north. Our idea was to try to bring in a nice mix with a team from the Big Northern, the Upstate Eight and the Fox Valley Conferences to give it a local flavor. That way teams don't have to travel too far and they can bring in a nice crowd to provide a good atmosphere for the teams involved."

The event features six teams: Central (12-2), Elgin (11-4), South Elgin (8-7), Marengo (7-6), McHenry (6-8) and Maine West (3-10). Each team plays twice per day with the winner determined by best record. The first tiebreaker is a head-to-head win.

Porto and Diversey limited the number of entrants to six in their first attempt, but the field may expand to eight next season. Porto said Hampshire and Yorkville have already expressed interest in participating in 2017.

As for the players from Class 3A Burlington Central (12-2), which enters the tournament ranked No. 20 in the Daily Herald Top 20, the tournament is an opportunity to show what the Rockets can do against local Class 4A competition like Elgin (11-4) and South Elgin (8-7).

"A lot of our kids probably know a lot of their kids either through AAU or playing them in summer leagues and shootouts or through reading the newspaper," Porto said. "They are good schools from competitive conferences so our kids are excited to compete against them."

Elgin, led by senior point guard Desmond Douglas, enters Friday's Upstate Eight River game against Geneva on a 7-game winning streak. It is the first of 5 games the Maroons will play in approximately 68 hours.

"We'll have to be a little deeper and play more bodies than we usually play," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "The way we play, we leave it all on the court. It would be hard for someone like Desmond to play 64 minutes of basketball in one day the way he plays."

Saturday's schedule includes: Burlington Central vs. McHenry, 9 a.m.; Marengo vs. Maine West, 10:30 a.m.; South Elgin vs. Elgin, 12 p.m.; McHenry vs. Maine West, 1:30 p.m.; South Elgin vs. Marengo, 3 p.m.; Central vs. Elgin, 4:30 p.m.

The action concludes Monday: Central vs. Maine West, 9 a.m.; Elgin vs Marengo, 10:30 a.m.; South Elgin vs. McHenry, 12 p.m.; Elgin vs. Maine West, 1:30 p.m.; Marengo vs. McHenry, 3 p.m.; Central vs. South Elgin, 4:30 p.m.

Tough field in Wheaton: Bartlett and Huntley are among 16 teams competing in Wheaton Warrenville South's loaded Martin Luther King Tournament Saturday and Monday.

The field assembled by Tigers coach and athletic director Mike Healy includes six teams ranked in this week's Daily Herald Top 20: No. 2 Benet (12-2), No. 4 York (10-4), No. 5 Hinsdale South (11-3), No. 6 Downers Grove South (11-5), No. 15 Stevenson (9-4) and No. 16 Wheaton Warrenville South (10-4).

"Mike did a good job of drawing in some top-level teams," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "More than half, maybe three-quarters of the teams have winning records. It's going to be a great tournament competition-wise, the kind of thing you want as you start getting ready for the postseason. You want to face different styles of teams and you want to face top-level players to figure out how you can beat them."

It makes for a busy weekend for Huntley (6-9), which hosts a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division game against Crystal Lake South on Friday night before opening the tournament in Wheaton on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The Red Raiders take on Downers Grove South, which has won 2 straight against Willowbrook and Morton.

If Huntley wins, it would face the winner of the Stevenson-Metea Valley game at 5:30 p.m. A loss would pit Huntley against the Stevenson-Metea loser, also at 5:30 p.m.

Bartlett opens tournament play against the host Tigers on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Hawks took a 9-6 record and a 3-game winning streak into Thursday's home game against East Aurora.

"We start with Wheaton Warrenville South, so right in the fire," Wolfsmith said. They do a really good job of sharing the ball. They have a couple of key players, but they move the ball well and they defend the ball well. It's a real good unit.

"Then we get the winner of Hinsdale South and the big kid (Barret Benson) or Plainfield South. After that it could be anyone."

Benson, a 6-foot-10 Northwestern recruit, led Hinsdale South to a third-place finish at York's Jack Tosh Holiday Classic by averaging tournament highs of 22.2 points and 11.6 rebounds.

Other first-round matchups on Saturday include: York vs. Warren, 9:30 a.m.; Notre Dame vs. Lincoln-Way North, 11 a.m.; Stevenson vs. Metea Valley, 11 a.m.; Glenbard East vs. Waukegan, 12:30 p.m.; Hinsdale South vs. Plainfield South, 2 p.m.; and Benet vs. Schaumburg, 2 p.m.

More MLK tournament action: Other Fox Valley area teams entered in Martin Luther King weekend tournaments include Batavia, Geneva, West Aurora and Streamwood.

Batavia and Geneva will compete at Rockford Jefferson. Batavia on Saturday plays Jefferson at noon and Belvidere North at 3 p.m. On Monday the Bulldogs play Rockford Guilford at 9 a.m. and Johnsburg at 3 p.m.

Geneva opens the tournament Saturday at noon against Rockford Lutheran prior to a 4:30 date with Rockford Guilford. The Vikings on Monday face Jefferson at noon and Rockford Boylan at 7:30 p.m.

At Hononegah on Saturday, West Aurora takes on Normal at 2 p.m. and faces the host Indians at 8 p.m. On Monday, the Blackhawks tangle with Neuqua Valley at 12:30 p.m. and Oak Park-River Forest at 3:30 p.m.

Streamwood travels to Lake Zurich's MLK Tournament on Saturday to face Maine East at 2:30 p.m. and Richmond-Burton at 6 p.m. The Sabres face Addison Trail on Monday at 10 a.m. and an opponent to be determined at 2 p.m.

Night of Hoops: The pairings are out for Batavia's 23rd annual Jim and Sylvia Roberts Night of Hoops, which will be held Jan. 30.

The slate of four varsity games kicks off a 3 p.m. with York playing DeKalb. West Aurora takes on Benet at 4:30 p.m. followed by St. Joseph facing Riverside-Brookfield at 6:15 p.m. Batavia concludes the night playing Lake Zurich.

Renewing a rivalry: Batavia and Marmion played last Saturday, two neighboring schools who had not faced each other in the regular season for 25 years.

They will play again next year in Batavia, and Cadets coach Joe Currie hopes the matchup will continue after that.

"It's a good rivalry game. It's just a good game. I don't know how much more fun fans could have after watching that game. Fun atmosphere to be around. I was happy to bring it back. Great for the community."

Batavia won the game 67-59 behind 23 points and seven 3-pointers from senior guard Canaan Coffey.

"I think more Marmion-Aurora Central Catholic than Marmion-Batavia," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "I live in the town and don't really feel it. Their is respect both ways. But it's not like Batavia-Geneva or Marmion-ACC."

John Lemon contributed to this report