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Not everyone a fan of Harvest Christian's style

Talented, brimming with confidence and driven by coach Andre White, Sr.'s no-plays-off philosophy, the Harvest Christian Academy boys basketball team is climbing the Northeastern Athletic Conference ladder with an eye toward the playoffs.

If the Lions offend a few sensibilities on their way up, so be it.

Harvest Christian Academy went from an ordinary Class 1A program to a Class 1A title contender last summer when three highly skilled players transferred to the Elgin private school of 179 students.

The additions of 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior Brennen Woods from Hampshire and 6-2 junior guard JJ Flores from Huntley endow the program with five seasons of combined varsity experience.

Another transfer, talented sophomore point guard Andre White, Jr., who played on varsity last year at Loyola Academy, provides a third scoring option. He tallied 24 points last Friday in an 86-72 win at Aurora Christian that improved Harvest Christian to 18-4 overall and 9-0 atop the NAC.

Never mind Class 1A, few area Class 4A teams boast three scoring options ala Harvest's threesome. Woods averages 19.7 points, 10 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Flores averages 15.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists, and White, Jr. contributes 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 3.8 steals.

The trio make everyone around them better, including 6-4 freshman John Lindquist (10 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and 6-4 junior forward Dylan Lockwood (4.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg).

The Lions have already beaten a few larger schools. They knocked off Class 2A St. Edward by 22 points in November. They've also handled three Class 3A schools: Joliet Catholic (54-51), Woodstock North (72-65) and Sycamore (69-41).

When the Lions face the more beatable programs on their schedule, they take no mercy. They defeated IMSA 104-47 on Dec. 16, Hinckley-Big Rock 98-46 on Dec. 17, Rockford Christian Life 106-73 on Jan. 6, Keith Country Day 102-25 on Jan 10 and Faith Lutheran 97-32 on Jan. 19.

The way White, Sr. sees it, his players have a limited amount of game time to prepare for the upcoming playoffs. He says that's why his team does things a typical high school basketball team wouldn't do, like stay in a full-court press when leading by 40 points.

"I'm of the philosophy of play the game until the buzzer goes off," said White, Sr., who graduated from Zion-Benton in 2003 as that school's all-time leading scorer. "A lot of teams may quit. We're not going to quit because, for one, we're not where we want to be right now. We're finally turning the corner, but we're still not where we want to be right now."

The aggressive style tends to ruffle feathers. With last Friday's 86-72 victory at Aurora Christian decided, the host Eagles walked off the court with 15 seconds left and Harvest in possession. Rather than run out the clock, the Harvest coaching staff waved Woods toward the basket. Unguarded, he threw down a reverse dunk just before the buzzer. That prompted several boos from the faithful at Aurora Christian.

Don't expect an apology from the Lions.

"My philosophy is it's these kids' high school career," White, Sr. said. "For one, that's our only senior. Every game counts for him. He's on the clock right now. So the momentum, for that dunk to carry over to the next game, hopefully, it's a charge for us to know that every possession counts. And that's what I'm trying to get them to understand, that every possession counts."

"We don't take any plays off at all," Woods said. "That's our motto: no plays off at all. That's how we get better every single game."

Is there a situation in which the Lions would ever lay off?

"I never lay off," White, Sr. said. "Just play ball. Play ball."

Donatlan update: There's good news on the injury front for West Aurora standout Camron Donatlan.

The 6-foot-3 junior went down with an injury in the first quarter of Saturday's 60-51 overtime loss to Batavia at the Annual Jim and Sylvia Roberts Night of Hoops.

The diagnosis is a sprain.

"He's moving better now, but I think it'll be another week or so," West Aurora coach Brian Johnson said Thursday. "Hopefully, we'll have him back before we're done with our regular-season games. If not, hopefully, by the playoffs."

Through 22 games Donatlan was averaging 17.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.1 steals.

West Aurora (15-7, 5-1) hopes to have Donatlan back before the regular-season finale on Wednesday, Feb. 22 when the second-place Blackhawks welcome Upstate Eight Valley leader Bartlett (13-8, 6-0).

Meanwhile, they play Friday at South Elgin (14-6, 3-3), which has won 6 straight games under first-year coach Brett Johnson since losing at West Aurora 64-46 on Jan. 13.

"It's not going to be the same South Elgin we saw at our place," Johnson said. "It's tough to play at their place and they've been on a roll. They have some talented players: (Logan) Atkins and (Collin) Uveges. They're both very good and they can play. They can put the ball in the hole. And Brett is doing a nice job. They run great motion offense. They read screens really well and they cut hard and they play hard."

On target: One reason Geneva has run its record to 24-0 is 3-point shooting accuracy.

The Vikings' top three shooters - sophomore guards Mitch Mascari and Jack McDonald and senior guard Matt Johnston - through 23 games had made 43.5 percent of their combined attempts from beyond the arc (91 of 209).

Mascari leads the way at 47.4 percent (45 of 95). McDonald shoots 41.5 percent from long range (22 of 53) and Johnston 39.3 percent (24 of 61).

On the schedule: Geneva (24-0) puts its unbeaten record on the line Friday when the Vikings visit rival Batavia (14-12, 4-5). Geneva edged the Bulldogs 59-51 in their first Upstate Eight River meeting on Dec. 16 ... Aurora Central Catholic (16-4, 6-1) can tighten its grip on first place in the Metro Suburban Blue by winning the next 2 games against the teams directly behind it in the standings. The Chargers play Friday at IC Catholic Prep (14-7, 5-2). They host Glenbard South (10-11, 5-2) on Tuesday ... East Aurora hosts the annual Ernie Kivisto Hoopfest Saturday. The event features three interconference matchups: Elgin (12-10) vs. Naperville North (15-4) at 4:30 p.m., Aurora Christian (14-8) vs. Oswego East (11-8) at 6 p.m. and Marmion (3-17) vs. East Aurora (4-15) at 7:30 p.m. ... Larkin (13-11) takes a break from Upstate Eight River play this weekend with a road trip to the O'Fallon Shootout. The Royals play Champaign Central (11-9) on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.

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