Tompson's return just in time for Bartlett
The Bartlett boys basketball team could be tough to contend with down the stretch with leading scorer Ben Tompson back from injury.
Tompson was an all-Upstate Eight Valley and all-area pick a season ago when he averaged 16 points and led the Hawks in assists and steals.
The senior tore the anterior talofibular ligament in an ankle in a Dec. 2 game at Notre Dame and did not play again until last Friday in a loss at West Aurora. He scored 3 points the following night in a loss to Fremd.
Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said a team can go one of two ways when a star player goes down - into shock or the others can respond and step into new roles. Bartlett (10-9) went 9-3 in Tompson's absence because, Wolfsmith said, players like 6-foot-2 senior guard Tomas Vikonis and 6-3 junior guard Austin Gates, among others, made the adjustments necessary to win.
"I thought Tomas did a great job stepping up into new roles and really has played well," Wolfsmith said. "Austin Gates has really stepped up in that role as well as a leader. And I thought we played good team basketball. They came together as a team instead of fractured. Now the challenge is on us to get these kids incorporating him back into the game and what that means for us as a team."
Bartlett is assigned to the 22-team Glenbard East sectional and will host one of four regionals. The hope is to be clicking in time for the postseason. Last March in regional play, Bartlett defeated South Elgin and No. 2 seed St. Charles East before falling to host Larkin in the title game.
"After last year we kind of know what it's like to be in the postseason and have those down-to-the-wire games," Tompson said. "The thing for us now is to get focused on making a postseason run. I think with that experience we can make some noise in the playoffs. I know we're going to have a very tough regional. Even though our record isn't where we want it to be, I think we can definitely hang with some of those teams."
You're starting, kid: Larkin guard Chris Rose made the most of his first varsity start last Friday. The 5-foot-9 junior scored 10 points to help the Royals defeat rival Elgin 75-48.
Rose started in place of junior shooting guard Pierre Black, who played sparingly after recovering from flu symptoms that forced him to miss a couple of practices.
"Chris started because he earned it," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "There were a lot of guys we could have went to, but he's been playing his butt of in practice and it showed."
Black returned to the starting lineup Tuesday and drilled six 3-pointers and scored 20 points in a 70-67 loss at Willowbrook.
Still No. 1: Aurora Christian (17-0, 7-0 Northeastern Athletic) maintained the top ranking in Class 1A for the second straight week.
The Eagles dominated Tuesday's battle for first place in the NAC, a 67-37 win at Westminster Christian (14-5, 6-1). It was the sixth time this season they defeated an opponent by at least 28 points.
"We're very confident," said sophomore Will Wolfe, who scored a career-best 28 points against Westminster. "I don't know. We're on a roll. We can't lose. We go into every game thinking we're going to win."
On the charts: Burlington Central cracked the Class 3A poll this week for the first time this season.
Winners of 15 straight, Kishwaukee River Conference-leading Central (18-2, 5-0) prevailed 74-48 in a first-place showdown against Johnsburg on Tuesday.
Senior Zach Schutta led the way with 30 points, raising his scoring average to 18.7 ppg.
Three times the fun: The Minnesota Miracle wasn't the only crazy ending between teams nicknamed Saints and Vikings recently.
In case you missed it, the Geneva Vikings knocked off the St. Charles East Saints 88-84 in triple overtime last Friday.
Here are some added tidbits from the marathon thriller, courtesy of Daily Herald correspondent Craig Brueske, who was on the scene.
Geneva (14-7, 4-2) attempted 51 free throws and made 36, both season highs.
The Vikings made 14 of 20 free throws in the third overtime and scored their final 13 points from the line.
Four players from St. Charles East (10-7, 3-4) fouled out in the third overtime.
It wasn't settled until Geneva junior guard Jack McDonald - who forced overtime with 2 fourth-quarter free throws with 22 seconds left that capped a 10-point rally - made 9 of 10 from the line in the third extra session. He connected on 20 of 24 free-throw attempts overall.
"Give credit to McDonald for stepping to the line and knocking down the 50-plus free throws or whatever it was," Saints coach Patrick Woods said. "I know it was a lot."
McDonald is an 85-percent free-throw shooter (63 of 74).
"Once you see a few going in it's muscle memory," he said.