Elgin, Larkin alums ready for round two
Coming soon to a gym near you: Larkin vs. Elgin alumni, Part Two.
Organized by Elgin graduate Brandon Grissette ('07), Elgin High's Chesbrough Fieldhouse hosted its biggest crowd of the season last January when alumni from the city's two public school squared off for charity.
Due to public demand - not to mention fevered interest from the players themselves - the Elgin vs Larkin alumni challenge returns on Wednesday, Dec. 19, this time at Larkin.
"Chesbrough is bigger and holds more people, but I wanted to give Larkin the opportunity to host it as well," Grissette said. "I felt it would be something cool for Larkin's fans."
Proceeds will be donated to the Easter Seals Jayne Shover Center in Elgin, which helps infants, children and adults with disabilities achieve maximum independence and provides support to their families.
Like last January, the event will feature two men's games. The first game with older alumni (Old School) begins at 7:15 p.m. A second game with recent graduates (New School) tips at 8:05 p.m.
DJ Ace Boogie returns to host and provide commentary throughout the evening and local dance team 2 Crucial will entertain between games. The Larkin band, drum line and dance team will also perform.
The new twist? The event begins with a women's game for the first time. The Elgin women take on the Larkin women at 6:15 p.m.
The Larkin roster includes Tissanie Simmons, Jill (Thomas) Kowalyszyn, Courtney (LaFerle) Massie and all-time leading scorer Marlee Kyles.
The Elgin roster spans the last 25 years of that program's history. The Class of '93 is represented by Jennifer Kiefer and Apryl Rodman Lowe. Lakiya Harvey ('16) is the most recent graduate.
The Old School men's games showcases well-known players like Elgin's Jessie Henderson ('90), Wallace Lynch ('93), Rodney Clifton ('95), Mark Bartee ('95) and Charlie Tomlin ('03).
Larkin counters with players like David Binion ('92), Sherick Simpson ('93), Steve Knapp ('03), Paul Kowalyszyn ('04), Dayvon Ellis ('06) and Drew Jones ('14).
There will be a pregame ceremony at 6:50 p.m. to honor Simpson for his 2018 induction to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The New School men's game tips at 8:05 p.m. The big addition since last January? Two-time Daily Herald All-Area Honorary Captain Kory Brown ('12) will play for Elgin.
Brown and fellow all-area honorary captain Arie Williams ('13) head a loaded roster that includes Grissette ('07), Jeremy Granger ('08), Armani Williams ('08), Xavier Granger ('07), D'Angelo Stewart ('08), Marcus Redburg ('09) and Isaiah Butler ('14).
Larkin may have its hands full. Brown, Grissette, Redburg, Arie Williams, Jeremy Granger and Isaiah Butler and others play together regularly. They won the Schaumburg men's league last summer and currently lead a men's league based in Huntley. Grissette said the former Maroons won a game last Sunday by 42 points. "The other team actually quit with two minutes left," he said. "If we don't win by 25, it feels like a loss."
Win or lose, Grissette said he is looking forward to a second successful event that celebrates basketball in the city of Elgin.
"As soon as last game was over, I instantly started thinking about Round 2," he said. "I was just overwhelmed by the feedback from the community and different people wanting to know if we were going to do it again. It feels like we've started something special."
Trojans aiming high: Cary-Grove is one of several Fox Valley Conference teams involved in a wide-open title chase.
Led by 6-foot-6 junior Frank Jakubicek (13.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and 6-1 junior guard Beau Frericks (18.1 ppg), the Trojans are as balanced and deep as they've been in years.
Cary-Grove (6-2, 2-1) notched two key road wins last week to open FVC play but suffered a 3-point setback at home against Dundee-Crown on Wednesday.
The Trojans prevailed 62-48 at Huntley last Wednesday, thanks to 20 points from 6-5 senior forward David Aulert.
Last Saturday, senior forward Ryan Rice scored 18 points to pace a 58-47 victory at Crystal Lake South.
"We're playing a lot better than we have in the past," Rice said.
Jakubicek, who has an offer from DePaul and strong interest from Belmont and Northern Iowa, found himself in early foul trouble in both games. The Trojans discovered other ways to score.
"I feel really confident we have a lot of really good personnel on our team," Jakubicek said. "We have a lot of weapons. And we all work really hard in practice every day trying to get better. I feel confident it will keep getting better and we will keep winning more games."
FVC teams have taken turns beating each other in the early going. Cary-Grove defeated Huntley (5-3, 2-2) and Crystal Lake South (6-3, 2-2) but lost to Dundee-Crown (7-1, 2-1), which lost to Huntley by 17 points on Dec. 1. CL South, in turn, routed Huntley by 19 on Wednesday. Hampshire (4-4, 3-1) knocked off CL South last week by 6 points but dropped an 84-73 decision in overtime on Wednesday against early league leader Crystal Lake Central (5-4, 3-0).
The Trojans think they will be in the thick of the FVC race until the end and be in position to make postseason noise.
"We have high aspirations to do things that Cary-Grove basketball hasn't done," third-year coach Adam McCloud said. "Guys believe they can do it and I think they believe they can do it in a lot of different ways. Everybody thinks they can compete and play at a high level."
Said Jakubicek: "We went through our rebuilding phase and now we're sort of seeing the success that comes out of that. It's exciting."